


Complications of the Heart

by Stephaniexx



Series: Complications of Love [1]
Category: teen wolf - Fandom
Genre: AND complicated feelings, Alive Allison Argent, Alive Erica, Alive Hale Family, Alive Vernon Boyd, Alternate Hale Fire, Break Up, Derek Has Feelings, F/F, F/M, Hurt and comfort, Isaac is a sweetie, Kate is dead so dont worry, Kid fic if you squint, M/M, Nice Peter, Past Abuse, Stiles is a Sweetie, TW// for abuse and homophobia in chapter 2!!, immense amount of love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-01-05 23:37:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 45,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12199551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stephaniexx/pseuds/Stephaniexx
Summary: "To love is nothing. To be loved is something. But to love and be loved, that’s everything."— T. TolisIsaac loves Derek, but in the way that Derek can’t return. Derek loves Stiles, but doesn’t think that the boy reciprocates those feelings, so he doesn’t tell Isaac the truth. Stiles’s love for Derek is obvious to everyone, except Derek, but he just can’t find the words to tell Derek that he’s ready for a relationship. Things get very complicated.





	1. Chapter One

The Hale siblings were lucky. They had run out of the Hale house tired, screaming, hot, burnt and scared. Terrified. They listened as two heartbeats remained, faint but still there. Derek was twelve, Laura was fifteen and Cora was seven. Derek, wanting to be the brother that always protected his sisters, shifted and attempted to run back into the house, but Laura, being older and stronger, stopped him and ran for her life. Derek held Cora as they both cried in the grass, preparing themselves for the worst. To this day, Laura says it was only ten minutes, but to Derek it felt like an hour. It felt like he was sitting there, with an eight year old Cora sobbing in his arms, for a whole hour as he waited to hear the two heartbeats, and Laura’s, slowly fade away. Then he heard a loud sob ring through the air. A cry that remains in his mind to this day. He stood up with Cora still in his arms and watched as his uncle Peter carried a weakened and sobbing Laura as his mother ran towards them. Derek didn’t hug her. He didn’t hug her because he didn’t see, sense or smell his father. He started running towards the house as everyone yelled after him to come back. He heard Peter coming after him, but that only made him run faster. He would have entered the burning house without any hesitation to save his father if it hadn’t crumbled right before his eyes as the smell of death made it’s home in his body. 

Before his father’s funeral, Derek had never seen his mother cry like this. He’d seen her cry over successfully cooking a new recipe, slow dancing in the backyard with his father, watching Bambi with Cora and other things that only came from happy tears. Though that day, she was torn apart. Silent tears as the casket lowered, then quiet sobs as she lay in the bed that all the Hales shared at the hotel. Laura and Cora were sleeping, and Peter went out for a smoke; but Derek was awake. Wide awake as he listened to his mother cry for his dead father. 

After a month in the hotel, Talia got them an apartment. It was small, but still big enough for one more person. Talia did everything she could to open the apartment up and make it more comfortable for her children, but nothing seemed to work. Laura became deeply invested in school and after school activities. She joined the debate club, cheerleading, student council and even glee club, so that she prolong the hurt of having to come home and not getting a big hug from her father. Cora just read, she read any book that she could get her little hands on and read it over and over. Peter threw himself back into work, which was weird seeing as he had retired at age thirty, and Derek noticed that every time he came back to the apartment, he’d smell like wolfsbane whiskey and sweaty women. Derek didn’t really have a distraction. He used to like basketball, but that ended when he realized that it wasn’t the same as it was when his father cheered him on. So he just observed everyone and stayed quiet, scared that if he spoke he’d cry.

Talia did everything she could to stay strong for her family. She maintained her happy and mothering nature; making sure Laura was always happy, that Derek had someone to talk to, that Cora always had a mother to play and have fun with and that Peter knew that he would always be apart of this family even with Robert gone. 

Talia and Peter were close from the minute Robert took her home to meet the family. When Talia and Robert got married after a year of dating, she finally spilled the beans to Peter about werewolves. Peter laughed at first, laughed so hard that his stomach cramped and he had tears in his eyes. Then he was angry, angry that his brother and his best friend, Talia, would ever keep something like this from him. No more than three months went by when Peter asked for the bite, but Talia expected this. Robert never wanted the bite, said he enjoyed being human, whatever that meant, but he and Peter were polar opposites. Peter loved strength and power and respect; things that he immediately associated being a werewolf with. Talia never saw anything sinister in Peter, she still doesn’t even after some of his choices, so she agreed without hesitation. After Peter turned, they were together 24/7 as Talia taught him the ropes. She taught him how to shift, how to heal, how to control. Peter and Robert’s parents were already confused when Robert took Talia’s name after marriage, so when Peter told them that he legally changed his name to Hale, all they could do was fondly laugh. 

Honestly, Talia hated that apartment, and she knew that the rest of the family did too. She missed the preserve and the land that she grew up on, trained on, fell in love on and brought her children home to after their births. She missed being able to wake up to the smell of sugar and sweetness from the pancakes being made with extra chocolate chips for Cora and Derek. Don’t get her started on the laughter, the beautiful sounds of her family laughing and loving one another. Everything she’s ever wanted.

The Hales were no strangers to wealth. So, Talia contacted the best contractors and architectures in the state of California to get her home rebuilt. She missed hearing Derek run down the stairs in the morning as he and Laura raced to see who would make it to the car first, she missed seeing Cora run from the wide expanse of nature and forest that was their backyard and she missed seeing Peter walk into the dining room on Sunday mornings, hungover, but acting as if he wasn’t as he played with the kids. Peter disagreed with Talia about rebuilding the house; he thought it was too early and that the stench of death, fire and smoke could never be washed away. Though, Talia knew that the real reason was that he was terrified of going back into the house that his brother burnt alive in. 

Talia loved Peter and she knew him well enough to know that he blamed himself for trusting someone like Kate Argent, and Peter knew Talia well enough to know that she blamed herself for listening to Robert and never giving him the bite. The bite that would have allowed him to heal enough to walk out of that flaming house alive.

It was Derek’s thirteenth birthday and he and his siblings were all curled up in the bed. Legs tangled with Cora’s elbow digging into his side and Laura constantly poking him just to be annoying. When his friends at school approached their preteen and teen years they all pretended to suddenly hate their family, not Derek though. He could never be embarrassed to hug Laura tightly before she drove off to her high school, hold Cora’s hand as they walked down the street, kiss his mom when she dropped him off at Beacon Hills Middle School, or ride and nap on his uncle Peter’s back. 

After an hour or so, Derek and his sisters finally got out of bed to get ready for the day that Talia had planned for him. Birthday’s and Christmas were always hard for the Hales, seeing as those were Robert’s favorite holidays. He loved giving his children all that he could. Surprising them with presents, no matter how expensive or ridiculous they were, just so he could see their eyes get big, their mouths drop open and their grins that were so wide that their cheeks started to hurt. The Hale siblings all realized, at the same time, the direction that their mom was driving in. Their eyes turned gold, their jaws heavy as their teeth began to come in as they gripped onto each others hands tightly. 

“What are we doing mom?” Laura spoke up, her voice shaking. 

Talia looked at them through the mirror and smiled, “It’s going to be okay.” 

When they arrived, everyone noticed the new gate that was at the opening of the long driveway that led up to the Hale house. Talia put in a code, and smiled at the confused looks on her children’s faces as they drove further towards the house. 

Derek doesn’t remember crying. He doesn’t remember crying as he held on to his mom, his sisters and his uncle Peter as they all looked up at the house. The house that his mom secretly had rebuilt, the house that smelt of vanilla cake with chocolate icing, lilies, the trees that surrounded them and happiness. 

Talia laughed as she cried while watching her children run around the new house trying to decide which room they wanted. She loved this, she loved listening to them talk, but she couldn’t help but let the tears fall as she stared at the large mural of her family that she had placed in the opening hallway of the house. Making it the first thing that everyone saw when they walked in, just the way she wanted it. She remembers that day perfectly. Robert dragged them all out of bed at seven in the morning on a Saturday, and had them put on their best beach clothes. He talked the entire car ride to the beach, keeping the kids awake with wild stories and crazy car games. A part of the beach was secluded, just for them, so they could run around, splash in the water and have fun as a family as a photographer took the best shots. 

The picture was the perfect example of how Talia wanted their family to be remembered. Happy, loving and warm. She wanted people to know that the violence that threatened to take away their family and their happiness wasn’t the norm for them. That their home was always filled with smiles and laughs and hugs and kisses. And love. 

Robert would have loved this. He always wanted this to expand the house and add more rooms, a pool, a large patio, and more. He even wanted another child. Something that caused a few arguments between him and Talia after the children went to bed. She was highly concerned that she was too old to carry another child and Robert’s suggestion of adoption scared her. All she could think of was what happens if they fall in love with a human baby, and their werechildren aren’t able to bond with their new sibling? The list went on; new fears, excuses and distractions that kept popping up and getting in the way of expanding the family. Talia always regrets that she took so long to tell him yes, that she wanted another child. Another Hale. 

~

Derek was sixteen when his eyes turned from hazel to blue. Laura had taken him out as a late birthday celebration since she couldn’t make it on his actual birthday due to college midterms. They were walking down the street, arms wrapped around another as Laura sang and danced and laughed and told him wild college stories. Derek ate it all up, relishing in the feeling of his older sister being home, and having his pack completed and all together. 

He loved watching Laura grow up, and go through different phases. Every time she came back home from college, there was something new about her that she pretended to like because of boyfriends. The first time, she took a liking to red lipstick and black stiletto heels that made her look way older and serious. Talia told Derek that this was because Laura was dating an older man that loved sophistication, and red lipstick soon became something that he didn’t like. The second time, she had bangs, eyeliner and listened to 90s rock music, which was because of a new boyfriend, who was in a band and believed he was Kurt Cobain’s son. To this day, Derek huffs when he hears a song from the band that Laura pretended she loved just to make that boy happy. The third time, she was all about animal rights and on a vegan stint. Criticizing them every time they ate cereal, used water bottles, or ate pepperoni pizza. So, when Derek sees some vegan activists on the street he always rolls his eyes. This time, her hair was long, down to her waist, and she smiled brighter than she ever had before since leaving home. She talked about her life and plans for after college and how she might move back into town. Derek smiled, because he knew that some boy had nothing to do with this Laura. That this was the actual Laura that he loved so much and who was finally confident enough to be without a man. 

They were in the middle of talking when they both heard the footsteps and heartbeats coming fast from behind them. Laura quickly spun around putting her hand out to push Derek behind her. It was two men and a boy that was probably a few years younger than Derek. The men were obviously obnoxiously drunk as the boy stood behind them. Derek listened in on his heartbeat. It was loud, erratic and quick; he was scared and a little bit tipsy. 

The two men came closer to Laura and smiled in a deceiving and up to no good kind of way. “What’s a pretty lady like you doing with a little punk like that?” The taller of the two asked as the second one sized both Laura and Derek up. 

Laura maintained calm and smiled, “How about you guys just move along. Call it a night and leave us alone. That way, no one has to get hurt.” Derek growled, quiet enough for only Laura to hear. 

The second one spoke up, “Who said anything about getting hurt? How about you leave this one here and come with us .. we can do you up real nice.” Both of the men reached out to Laura, one going for her face and the other going for her waist and Derek’s anger boiled over. He could smell the bad intentions that came from these men. How they had nasty and violent thing on their mind. 

He felt his claws come out and he let out a growl as pushed Laura aside and swung his arm wide enough to stab into the taller man’s neck. He heard Laura’s gasp and her screaming his name as felt the other man’s weak and useless fists pound onto his back as he gripped guy number one’s neck tight enough to cause him to gag. He heard everything: the wet and sloppy sound of his nails digging into the man’s neck, the sound of blood hitting the ground, Laura screaming his name in the background, the second guy screaming and skidding away when Derek turned to him with glowing eyes, people opening their windows to peak out at the scene in the street, and the distant police and paramedic sirens coming from five blocks away. 

Yet, he didn’t hear the young boy gasp before his knees dropped to the ground. He didn’t hear him choking on his own blood as he struggled and shook in Laura’s arms. 

“Derek! Der, stop, please stop! Help me, please, Derek he’s dying!” Laura’s heart was beating louder than anything he'd ever heard before as the young boy’s own slowed down. He flew the guy’s whose neck he had in his hands across street, making sure to dig his nails deep into his already deep neck wounds. Derek watched as Laura leaned down, crying and screaming into the boy’s chest that had already stopped moving. Derek doesn’t know why he didn’t do anything. Why he stood there as the boy stopped shaking, choking and moving at all. Why he just stared, blankly, as Laura’s screams rang through the empty streets. Blood all over her hands, arms, jeans and chest. 

He was silent and stiff even as the deputies and the sheriff showed up and cuffed him; never even moved as other guy told Sheriff Stilinski that he was a monster with claws and fangs and glowing eyes. If he wasn’t so stiff, he would have laughed as the paramedics rushed to get guy number one to the hospital. He watched Laura from inside the car, the red and blue lights illuminating her face, heavy tears flowing down her face as sat on the pavement crying while answering the sheriff’s questions. Derek was too scared to listen in on the conversation. Too scared that he’d hear Laura describe him as a monster and an animal that killed a little kid. 

Derek knew what this meant. His cute and innocent hazel eyes, that his father always loved, were gone. Now, permanently replaced by a cold and sinister blue.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter is longer than the last one which I’m really happy about and it’s focused on Isaac! Next chapter will start off where this one ended, but be focused on Stiles! I hope you guys enjoy!!!

Isaac always hated when his brother would force him out of bed at six in the morning to go running around town. Liam was training for Army bootcamp and nothing got in the way of his morning runs, not even a sleepy and whiny little brother. After about a month or so, Isaac got used to it, he enjoyed the time they spent together, their playful banter and competitions on who ran faster. Though, what he loved most was being away from their father. Their father who, without shame, always made it known that Liam was his favorite child. Liam did sports, had girlfriends, went to parties, and enlisted into the Army. Isaac, on the other hand, did none of those things. He preferred staying home over football, paid more attention to boys than girls, hated the idea of parties, and he never even thought about joining any form of military.

He used to be frail and weak but running and training with Liam made him a bit more built. He noticed as his body filled out more - arms getting bigger, shoulders widening, muscles coming in - his father started to pay more attention to him. He thought that Isaac would finally be playing football or basketball or baseball. One day, he even got so desperate that he tried getting Isaac to play lacrosse, and his father _hated_ lacrosse. Isaac ignored his pleas and compliments about his newfound strength because he wasn’t working out with the intention of becoming an athlete, he just loved his brother and enjoyed being with him.

~

Running with Liam had never been of any use, but today Isaac was very thankful that he always went. His chest, legs and feet were on fire due to how long and hard he had been running as he tried remembering everything his brother had taught him. Every time he whipped his head around to look behind him, he couldn’t tell if he was hallucinating or if he was actually seeing his father following him with the shotgun. Either way, Isaac kept running with no intention to ever stop. He and Liam almost never ran in The Preserve, something about it being private land, but today Isaac had no choice but to run through the unknown woods. Today wasn’t like any other day where he and his father had and argument or fight. Today was the day that his father had actually lost his mind.

It all happened as they were driving down the long and isolated road that took them back to center of town. It was ten in the morning on a Saturday and Isaac was struggling to keep his eyes open because hisfather dragged him out of bed at four and forced him to go hunting with him; something about “needing to be a man”. It was a tense silence with Isaac watching out of the window wishing that they could get home quicker as his father kept looking over at him, making Isaac aware that he had something to say. He didn’t want them to talk because every time they did it, resulted in a fight and he was way too tired for that right now.

Isaac, of course, remembered he had no luck when his father finally said what he had to say.

“I bet that girl would love to know that you went hunting today and shot a deer right in that little forehead of his. Show her the type of man you are. Tell me, what’s her name again? Allie? Anna?” His father had a rare smile on his face. Isaac turned his head to hide that he rolled his eyes and after a bit said, “Allison.” His father chuckled and tapped the steering wheel, “Argent’s girl. She sure is pretty. I noticed you two been hanging a lot at school. You should bring her by the house sometime. I’m glad you finally got yourself a girlfriend.” His father reached out to touch his shoulder and Isaac instinctively moved away.

“She’s not my girlfriend, and has a boyfriend.” His father laughed.

“Those Argent’s are tough, huh? But it’s a sad thing what happened with that Kate, so, all you have to do is get cute little Alison all alone, make her cry on your shoulder about her crazy dead aunt then slowly ease her onto the bed and-“

“Dad! That’s disgusting! I hardly even know Alison.” His father laughed and shrugged, “worked with your mother.” Isaac closed his eyes for bit, trying to repress his anger by gripping onto the door handle. He hated when his father brought up his mother or his brother — the causes of most of their fights.

They were quiet for a bit, just like Isaac wished for, then his father spoke up again. “Well what about any other girly friends? Son, you’ve got to man up and get yourself a lady. I can smell the virgin all over you,” Isaac kept silent as his father laughed, “what about principal Martin’s girl? What’s her name ... Lillian? She’s very pretty. Though, those red heads can be tough to crack. I seen some other-“

“I’m gay.”

Isaac didn’t mean to say it, though, maybe he did. Since he was fourteen his dad had been bothering him to get with a girl and “become a man”. Yet, he’s known that he wanted to kiss boys since he was twelve. Liam knew, he told him when he was thirteen, and he’ll always love that memory. He had been so scared to tell him because Liam and his dad spent so much time together and he thought that Liam would be ignorant like their father. So, Isaac just spit it out before he had any more time to think and shut his eyes, scared to see the one person left that he loved become disgusted with him. After a minute or so or quietness, he opened his eyes, and Liam was just looking back at him with a small smile. He shrugged his shoulders and said that he already knew. Then he ruffled, Isaac’s hair and kept on doing what he was doing.

Isaac noticed how his father went completely still, so still that it didn’t even look like he was breathing. It stayed like that for five minutes and, now that Isaac thinks about it, he feels so stupid for thinking that his father wouldn’t flip out. He watched as the truck went from forty to ninety miles per hour, speeding the beat up truck down the empty road. Isaac started to panic, screaming at his father to slow down and stop the car. He tried reaching for wheel, doing the first time that came in his mind, but his father was faster than him. He felt his large hand slap at his face so hard that he flew back against the window. He tasted the blood in mouth, body going limp when he noticed his father was heading straight to the large tree off the side of the road.

Isaac saw everything in slow motion. Watched as his fathers foot pressed roughly against the gas pedal, going from ninety to one hundred. They locked eyes as his father perfectly positioned the truck in the direction of the tree, then let go of the wheel. He couldn’t even scream, couldn’t panic or cry, just let himself lie against the seat as he felt the tires swivel underneath them. The last thing Isaac saw before they went head first into the tree were tears running down his fathers face.

It doesn’t make sense that they survived. Isaac’s head was ringing as he lay on the dashboard, blood pooling around his face. He tried moving his legs first, wanting to see if he was paralyzed then sat up with a scream, his whole body aching in pain, and leaned back against the seat with a groan.

Isaac opened his eyes to see that his father was gone out of the driver’s seat. He laughed, relieved, thinking that his father was dead and finally out of his life. His slight happiness didn’t last for long though when he heard his door wrench open and felt himself be dragged out of the car. His back hit the ground with so much force that his entire body stiffened. His father stood over him, blood around his mouth, nose, and the side of his waist. For a minute, Isaac actually felt bad for the guy until he felt the force of his fist come slamming into his face. His head flew back against the ground as he let out a loud groan and felt the blood gushing out his nose as he tasted the familiar metallic taste increase. His father punched him two more times before he was able to defend himself and take his small chance to punch him on the side of his mouth. He reared back in surprise and, and Isaac took advantage of his surprise to kick him as hard he could in the stomach and crawl over to the other side of the truck.

He begged and wished for someone to come driving down the road and help him, but it was so quiet that he couldn’t even hear the birds chirping. His father was leaning against the back of the truck, coughing hard as the both of them struggled to breathe.

“I’ve already lost a son, and now I have to lose another one?”

Isaac watched as his father reached into the back of truck, his hand searching around for what Isaac already knew was his gun. He groaned, pushing his body off of the truck, and watched his father let out a sob and tighten his grip. He felt stuck, not wanting to believe that he would ever take it this far.

“I can’t have you here disrespecting your brother. A war hero.” His father turned his head and spat blood onto the ground.

“Dad come on ... I-I was joking,” Isaac began to slowly walk backwards, “I .. come on dad. Take a joke! What are you doing?? Dad don’t do this. _Please_! What doing doing???” At this point Isaac was screaming, his voice going in and out.

He got his answer when his father raised the gun, cocked it and shot it in his direction, thankfully missing as Isaac whipped around to dash into the woods.

~

Isaac didn’t know which direction he was going in, but he knew that he passed that large purple tree about ten times. The sound of bullets only rang through the air five times, so Isaac knew that there were more bullets left that his father could use to shoot him. He also knew that his father never gave up on a hunt — he’s watched him track down the same elk for five hours, determined to find and kill it — and right now, Isaac was his prey.

It took him a while to realize that he was no longer running. That his eyes were closed, body in the air, a stranger’s hand around his throat as he choked on spit but legs still moving. He let out a weak sob as he thought about his father catching him. This was it, he was going to die today. He was going to die because he let his mouth get the better of him and admit his biggest secret to his biggest fear.

“Dad please ... _PLEASE_! Please forget what I said!” Isaac screamed, hands reaching down to his neck to try and pry the fathers fingers away.

“Look, dude, I don’t know who or WHAT you are, but you’re on _my_ property,” Isaac’s eyes blinked open in surprise at hearing a girl’s voice. She raised her eyebrows at his surprised expression before tightening her grip around his neck and throwing him onto the ground. Isaac let out a painful wince at the feeling of hitting his bruised back again.

“Who sent you? You a diversion, huh?” She walked towards him, legs going on either side of his torso, just like his father had done earlier, as she leaned down. He let her grab the front of shirt and pull him roughly towards her face, way too weak to protest.

“ _Who_ sent you? What, they think they could send some distressed human to play with our emotions? Then you’d trace your friends back to us to kill us?” Her fingers snaked back to his neck, nails digging into and piercing his skin.

Isaac groaned in pain, “Please I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. Just let me go. I _need_ to go. He’s coming after me, and I need to go. Please listen to me, I’m not lying, I’m not a diversion, I-I ... I’m not anything. _Please_!” Isaac pleaded, trying to get up as the girl stared at him in concentration. She loosened her grip on the neck and he took notice of the frown on her face — letting him know that she believed him — so he took his chance. He pushed hard at her shoulders with all his remaining strength and darted up as she fell onto the ground in surprise.

Before Isaac could even get far he felt her kick at his leg causing him to land face first on the ground. The last thing he saw was her fist flying towards his face.

~

“Where is he?”

“I put him in the guest room down the hall.”

Isaac’s eyes blinked open. He looked around the room; light blue walls, new white sheets that were now dirty because of him, the moon shining through the window to his right. Isaac immediately sat up, and regretted it when he felt incredible pain all throughout his body, after he realizing that he was in a foreign place. This wasn’t his house.

“Did you give him something to eat? To drink?” He heard a woman ask, concern evident in her tone.

“I mean ... I, uh, didn’t get the chance to. He was um .. unconscious when I brought him.” He knew that voice, it was the girl that caught him in the woods.

“Young _lady_! How could yo-“

“How did you know he was telling the truth?” He heard a man’s voice.

“I listened to his hear-“

“He’s awake.”

Isaac’s eyes bulged out of his head in shock wondering how they knew he had woken up. They knew he was awake and now they were going to call the police, or worse, call his father. Isaac tried opening the window to plan his escape. He couldn’t stay here, he didn’t even know these people. On a regular day, Isaac would have been out of that window in ten seconds tops but today? Today, his fingers were sweaty and jittery and he just couldn’t get this damn window to unlock. He began screaming, banging on the window, begging and sobbing for help. He was hysterical. So terrified that he hadn’t noticed the shards of glass cutting into his knuckles from punching the window to try and break it open.

He felt someone sit next to him on the bed, comforting hands reaching out to rub his back. Isaac flinched away, body going stiff. He pressed his face against the cold glass of the window, breathing so hard he saw it fog up.

“I’m not going to hurt you. _We_ aren’t going to hurt you,” Isaac looked at the mysterious woman then saw that there were four other people standing behind her in the doorway, two girls and two boys, “I’m Talia, Talia Hale, and you’re in my house,” the woman, Talia, rubbed his shoulder and he couldn’t help but lean into her touch. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

Isaac contemplated what to do in that moment. He was scared, so scared that she’d call the police who would pick him up and drop him home. Home where his father was waiting, angry, and ready to kill him. Apparently this conflict was clear in his face because Talia smiled wider, putting a little force on his shoulder which caused him to fully turn to face her and sit down on the bed. “Hey, it’s fine, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me now. I wouldn’t want to tell some strange woman my name either,” Isaac ducked his head to hide his sigh of relief, “want to tell me why you’re so hurt?”

Isaac moved away, shaking his head, hurrying to try and get away from her. Talia hurried to reach for his hand and held it in hers. “Shh, shh, it’s okay. You’re okay. How about, we leave you alone, you get some rest and when you wake up you can clean up and come out for some dinner. That sound good?”

Isaac didn’t say anything. He honestly had no idea what to do or what was going on. He expected this woman to demand his name and address, expected her to be angry at him for intruding her home and causing problems. Yet, she was calm and smiling. She held onto his hand for a bit before getting up and leaving the room. Isaac laid back onto the bed, the sheets cold and soft on his body. He wanted to get up and figure out why that window was so impossible to open and leave to prevent putting a burden on this family, but he was so exhausted and the bed was so comfortable; So comfortable that in minutes, his eyes were drooping.

~

He shot out of the bed, feet landing on the ground and body covered in sweat — even more than before. Isaac was breathing hard, struggling to calm his nerves. He held onto the edge of the bed, shaking his head and trying not to scream. He hadn’t had a dream like this in a while, so long that he almost forgot how to handle them. After a while, Isaac relaxed and stood up, noticing the open door in the room that connected to a bathroom. He walked in, turning on the light and preparing himself to look into the mirror.

Isaac was no stranger to bruises. This time, though, it was the worst. He had a black eye, a violent dark purple bruise on his left cheekbone, a large gash in his hairline covered in dried blood with scratches littering all over his face and arms. He almost broke down crying when he caught a glimpse of how his back looked like a children’s coloring book; an array of blues, blacks and purples with his spine looking ready to pop out. He slowly stripped off his clothes, trying not to touch his bruises, and stepping under the hot water.

It didn’t feel like he was in the shower for that long, but it must have been because when he got out, the bed was made and clothes were laying there for him. After getting dressed he sat on the bed, too scared to leave the room. Talia was nice, but he didn’t know these people. He had no idea what their intentions were. What if his dad was sitting there outside waiting for him? Acting nice to these people then taking him home. Home to that extremely cold house and abuse.

“I’m coming in, sweetie.” Isaac frightened at the sudden sound of Talia’s voice and let out a shaky breath when he heard her twisting the doorknob and letting herself in. She smiled and Isaac saw that she had a huge first-aid kit in her hand that looked like it had never been used before. She sat on the bed and reached out to hold his hand. “How are you feeling?” She asked, her voice low as she let go of his hand to open the kit. She looked up and pulled his curly hair off of his forehead and began cleaning up the large cut on his hairline. Isaac just stared at her as she patched him up, surprised that he didn’t need stitches. Her hair reached down to her waist, eyes a light brown almost green, freckles dotted on her face and when they locked eyes he gave her a small smile. When she finished she cupped his cheek and frowned.

“I’m sorry someone hurt you, you beautiful boy.” Isaac couldn’t help but let out a weak sob and leaned down to rest his head on her shoulder as he cried. She held him tight in her arms, soothingly rubbing her cheek against his head. His whole body shook with tears, his breathed ragged and eyes burning. He leaned away from her and hung his head, suddenly embarrassed over his tears, and she stared at him for a little longer then got up. “Dinner’s ready, sweetie.” 

Isaac shyly followed in the direction that Talia went, poking his head into the dining area where everyone else was already seated. He awkwardly stood near the table, not knowing where to sit as they all looked up at him — staring at his bruised face. Talia walked in with a huge pot in her hand. “Come sit down and eat, sweetie.”

“You can sit next to me.” She walked up to him, grabbed his hand and sat him down before sitting in the chair next to his. Everyone dug in without a second glance, but Isaac didn’t know what to do. After a beating from his dad, he would never be able stomach food for a while. He always lost his appetite for a few days and his stomach was either in bruises or knots, so food always came rising back up and causing him more pain. As a result, he’d gotten very used to going days, sometimes weeks, without food.

“You’ve got to eat. Come on. Even just a little bit.” He flinched when Talia whispered into his ear. She tapped his hand and he nodded, grabbing his fork to pick up a few pieces of chicken. Isaac felt the need to please her, so he stared at the small piece for a while before putting it into his mouth. He groaned and even smiled a little bit at the delicious taste and flavor of the meat. He was able to swallow after more chews, and when it didn’t immediately come back up, he got confident and eat a few more pieces. He made loud noises as he chewed and had the biggest smile on his face, because he couldn’t remember the last time he had a meal like this. He looked up at Talia and the rest of the table, seeing them stare at him with small smiles.

“I guess you like it!” Talia said with a little laugh.

Of course things never go the way he wants them to because within a minute, he felt his stomach turn and didn’t even have time to get up before he was throwing up all over his plate. He heard everyone on the room gasp some in surprise and some in disgust. He was so horrified as he felt his entire face go red in embarrassment. He can usually tell when he was going to throw up and have time to run to a toilet. This time, though, it complete caught him by surprise as he gagged loudly and spilled all the delicious food he had just eaten onto his plate.

“Oh! Sweetie let me-“ Talia shot out of her seat reaching for him when he heard someone else rise from their chair. “I got this mom. I’ll get him some water.” Talia sighed and sat down as someone else picked up his plate and left the room. Talia kept rubbing his back as he kept his head hanging down in shame. He heard the glass be set down in front of him and he quickly reached for it, taking small sips.

“What’s your name sweetie?” Talia asked him softly as she rubbed circles on his back.

“Isaac,” he looked up to see the whole family looked back at him, “Lahey.”

“Oh _shit!_! You’re the gym coach’s son! Oh my gosh, I know you! Well I don’t _know_ you but I’ve seen you in the hallways!” The girl that looked closer to his age shouted out. He stared at her, recognizing her as the one who caught him in the woods. Then he looked at Talia and almost laughed because he must have been really out of it to not realize whose house he was currently in. The Hales: victims of the Hale fire and most wealthy and powerful family in Beacon Hills. He nodded, at the girl, Cora, and she smiled, “Sorry for, like, beating you up in the wo-“

“Well, Isaac, this is my family. My daughter Laura,” He looked up at the girl, who looked more like a woman. She smiled at him and waved. Her and Cora looked exactly like Talia. All tanned skin, brown eyes, light freckles, warm smiles and long dark hair.

“You already know Cora. That’s my son, Derek,” Isaac glanced at the man who nodded at him and smiled. He didn’t really look like Talia; he had a different bone structure, lighter eyes, no freckles, but the smile and the beauty were the same. He looked like the man next to him though, “and this is Peter. My brother-in-law.” Peter eyed him skeptically. Isaac didn’t know what to say to any of them so he just nodded and played with his fingernails in his lap. It was quiet for a while, and he appreciated that because he didn’t really have any answers for the questions that he knew they had, and were dying to ask.

“Hey, you wanna tell us why I found you running through our backyard looking like Carrie on prom night?” Laura hit Cora’s arm and she whispered “sorry” as Isaac sighed and looked up at them. He had a few classes with her over the years and remembers her being very funny, sarcastic and always speaking her mind.

“Cora.” Talia spoke from behind him, her voice a little harder in a warning tone.

“I, uh, I was running.” That was all he could come up with at the moment. Peter leaned forward with force, “From what?” Talia gave him a look like she was ready to scold him but he didn’t pay her any mind, “We need to know these things, Talia.” She just sighed and leaned back into her chair.

“My, um,” Isaac felt his stomach knot up as he struggled to find his words, “um .. noth-“

“It’s _not_ nothing. You were running on our territory, drenched in blood and going crazy! _How_ are we supposed to trust you? You shouldn’t even be here … this could all be a trap! Tell us who sent you _now_.” Isaac flew himself out of his chair as Peter stood up and lunged towards him. He flinched, putting his hand up to cover his face. He felt Peter grab his shirt and yank him up from the ground. Peter let out a groan that neared the sound of a growl as Isaac gasped, ready for the punch when he noticed all movement in the room had stopped.

“ **Stop.** ” Talia’s voice was ice cold. Harder than even his father’s on his most angry days. Peter looked helpless and emotional as he let go and fell onto his butt. Isaac watched as everyone else in the room stood still and Talia walked over to him and cupped his cheek. “Forgive him.” she said, her voice back to normal.

He leaned into her touch, “My father. I was running from my father. He was finally going to kill me.” He saw tears fill Talia’s eyes and he lunged forward to hug her. She gently pulled him up from the floor and wrapped her arms around him. He placed his head in the space between her neck and shoulder and whimpered as she whispered soft words into his ear.

“You’re okay. You’re okay now. We’re not going to hurt you here.”

~

Isaac’s father hated him so much and that he shamelessly admitted it to the police when they found him laying in the forest, pale and bleeding out with his gun in his hand. He told them about his horrible and worthless gay son that needed to be killed. The newspapers said that he just laughed when the officers asked him about his totaled truck on the side of the road that was covered in blood, and he told them everything: purposely crashing the truck, shooting after Isaac, abusing and mistreating him for years and wanting to permanently have him gone. Isaac couldn’t leave the house for a while after everything got out. People would be staring at him, whispering and laughing at him, being nice just to make themselves feel better or to know more about his situation so they could gossip. So, Isaac stayed inside and Talia understood.

Within two months Isaac’s stay with the Hales had become permanent. He knew that their influence and wealth in the community had something to do with how quick the legal processes went, but he wasn’t complaining because the thought of going to a different family never occurred to him. It surprised him how quickly he had warmed up to the Hales. Talia made sure to always look over him and he never got annoyed when she “smothered” him. She was always touching him; holding his hand, rubbing his back, kissing his cheek. It’s like she needed to make sure that he was fine and in one piece. Isaac loved spending time with Talia, but he really enjoyed when the others joined in too. Laura was just a second wilder Talia, but not as wild as Cora. Isaac quickly began to love Laura as a big sister. She came to his room some times or joined him on the couch and they were able to talk about anything, and, when Cora would join in things would be even better. He loved laying on Laura’s lap, her playing with his hair and talking about her day or telling funny stories of the family. On Isaac’s fourth night with the Hales, Cora came barging into his room and flew herself down onto the bed. She didn’t even pay attention to Isaac’s shocked look as she started talking a mile a minute going from topic to topic: getting out of detention for skipping, kissing a boy for the first time, a new girl that she was in love with for the week, etc. When she finally took a breath, she looked up at Isaac and frowned, “Were you listening?” He smiled and nodded. “Yeah” she smiled back, reached up to ruffle his curls and kept on talking. All the others had been gentle around him, but not Cora. She wasn’t an extremely emotional person, but every week or so, Cora always made sure to give him a certain look and he always knew what it meant. So, he just nodded and smiled, giving her his answer.

Derek was something different. There were times when Derek was completely different from the girls. He wasn’t really a talker, but he and Isaac spent a lot of bonding time together. They read on the couch, watched movies or documentaries —Isaac didn’t really care for documentaries but Derek loved them —, played games, and cooked dinner together. When something needed to be said, it would be, but a lot of their time was spent being fairly quiet while enjoying the others company. Isaac always noticed how attractive Derek was and he always went giddy over the looks that they shared sometimes. He saw the girls as his sisters, but with Derek he wasn’t able to see him as a brother. Maybe because he wanted him to be something else.

It was almost seven months living with the Hales and he and Peter still hardly communicated. After hearing about Mr. Lahey’s arrest, Peter generously apologized multiple times and Isaac always told him that he forgave and understood him, but he was never able to be fully comfortable around him. Sometimes he felt guilty though, because he always noticed the hurt look on Peter’s face when he hardly talked to him or avoided him all together. Isaac knew that Peter still thinks that Isaac shies away from him because of what happened, but the truth was that Isaac sometimes saw a different side of Peter. He didn’t always see the Peter who praises the ground that Talia walks on, acts like a protective and loving dad to the girls and playfully bothers Derek everyday. Isaac enjoyed and loved that Peter, but there were nights where he wasn’t able to shut out the nightmares, the shivers and the panic, so he would go curl up on the couch. Then, he’d see Peter leaving the house in a rush, a different look on his face and in his eyes that reminded him way too much of his father.

~

Isaac was currently home alone with Peter, and he heard him walk into the living room, standing behind the couch where Isaac was laying with one leg lazily hanging off the side. Peter opened his mouth to say something when the doorbell rang, cutting him off much to Isaac’s relief.

“I’m here!!” Isaac smiled at the sound of Erica’s voice ringing through the house. She ran into the living room and dived into his lap, Boyd and Scott following behind her. She kissed his cheek over and over before laying her head on his chest. Boyd wrapped his hand around the back of his neck and rubbed it gently. Isaac looked up at him and smiled before being jumped on again by a grinning Scott. He beamed down at Scott as Boyd lifted Erica and Scott off of him so he could sit down. He laid their legs on top of his own lap and their bodies back down onto Isaac. They were both extremely heavy, but Isaac knew better than to complain because that wouldn’t make them move.

They stayed like that until Isaac heard the door open again. He gasped in mock betrayal as Scott jumped up from his lap and ran over to Allison, scooping her on his arms and kissing her obnoxiously. Lydia and Jackson came in no more than ten seconds later, holding hands as they both reached over to rub his head. “Hey Curly!” Jackson said before reaching down and tugging lightly on one of Isaac’s curls.

Isaac perked up even more when he heard Derek’s laugh coming from the hallway. Yeah, Derek didn’t always talk but he laughed a lot. Mostly at the stupidest things that Isaac didn’t really get, but enjoyed because Derek enjoyed it and because Derek was so cute.

Isaac’s point was proven when he saw Derek walk in laughing at Stiles: something stupid that Isaac didn’t really get. Isaac looked at Derek who caught his eye and smiled, heading straight to him as Stiles frowned a tiny bit before going to sit next to Lydia and Jackson. Derek leaned down to rub his cheek and they locked eyes for a bit, but got interrupted by Erica who pinched Derek’s cheek before getting up to move to the further end of the couch with Boyd to give Derek space on the couch next to Isaac. Isaac looked at Peter who was sitting on the floor near Allison and looking at them with his head turned to the side before he chuckled and turned away.

“You look like you’re in a good mood Isaac!” Lydia asked him, a smile on her face as she put both hands on Stiles and Jackson’s mouths to stop their arguing. Isaac couldn’t help but laugh because he never thought someone could get Stiles to stop talking.

“I just love having everyone here.” Isaac said, looking around to see all the people he loved so much talking and laughing loudly while joining one another’s conversations.

It amazes Isaac how quickly these people became his best friends — his family. It was two weeks into living with the Hales when his sleep was interrupted by a tired Scott McCall. He felt someone curl up behind him and he jumped and screamed for his life. Scott’s eye’s widened in fear and fell off the bed, arms flailing around like a child.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Isaac screamed as he leaned against the wall. Scott stood up and stared back at him, “What am _I_ doing? What are _you_ doing?? This is my room!” Isaac was at a lost for words as he stared back at the boy who had a goofy grin on his face. Talia had told him that this was his room, and he had no idea why Scott McCall even _had_ a room in the Hale house. He was saved when Talia and the rest of the Hale gang came running into Isaac’s — their? — room.

Laura talked first as Derek and Cora laughed at Isaac and Scott from behind her, “Oh Scott! You, and the rest of the pa- Cora’s friends, should know that Isaac is staying here with us for a while. This is .. _his_ room now.” Scott started laughing too, making Cora and Derek laugh harder, and walked up to him and pulled him in for a tight hug, “I’ve seen you around school before. I, uh .. sorry about your dad. He’s a real dick.” Isaac slumped back down onto the bed and started laughed too.

They hit it off immediately and spent the most time together. Playing video games, attempting to do homework, helping Scott’s mom out at work, and Isaac almost always tagged around with him and Allison. He met Boyd when he walked into the kitchen one day and saw him grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. Boyd looked up, smiled, and said “Hey. We’re up in Derek’s room.” He pat his shoulder as he walked by and continued up the stairs and Isaac just followed because he wanted to know who this “we” was. He saw Erica Reyes lying on Derek’s bed, feet swinging in the air and playing with her blonde hair and she talked to Derek. She looked up at him and beamed, jumping up from the bed and rushing over. “Oh, you must be Isaac! You are _so_ cute, oh my gosh!” Since then, Erica never really left his side or stopped fawning over him, but he didn’t mind at all. He met Jackson in the garage when he and Derek were working on both of their way too expensive cars. Jackson was complaining about lacrosse practice when Isaac walked in to introduce himself. Jackson just eyed him up and down, looked at his hair and since then continued to call him Curly Sue. Meeting Lydia, though, was by far the best story. He was walking into Cora’s to hang out when he caught Cora and Lydia kissing roughly on her bed. He remembers screaming and slamming the door shut. “I’m sorry!” he yelled while running downstairs to watch something on tv to hide his embarrassment. An hour later when Lydia came down to introduce herself they both just burst out laughing.

Then he had to meet Stiles. He had heard a lot about Stiles, with him being the Sheriff’s kid and Scott’s longtime best friend, but they had never met. He was having a rough night, dreams and memories all over this place and his room suddenly felt stuffy and uncomfortable. Cora and Laura had went to a party and Talia and Peter had left town to meet up with friends, so it was only Isaac and Derek there for the night. He trudged up the stairs, heading to Derek’s room for comfort and distractions but when he opened the door he saw Stiles sitting on Derek’s bed. Derek wasn’t in the room and when Stiles looked up he just stared at him. “You’re Isaac? Nice to finally meet you!” Stiles stood up to shake his hand, or hug him whatever, when Derek walked in shirtless with a towel wrapped low around his waste. “Stiles have you seen my und- Isaac!” Derek stared up at him in surprise and held onto his towel tighter. That’s when Isaac noticed that Stiles only had on a way too big t-shirt that Isaac had seen Derek wearing before and underwear that was also too big. It was also in that moment that Isaac realized the smell of sex flooding the room and his eyes went big “I, um, came up here for something but you are _clearly_ busy so I’ll .. go!” Isaac bolted out of the room and back to his, hurriedly trying to get away from that scene.

Within two months, Isaac was around this group seven days out of the week, either all together for dinner at the Hales or separately doing things with every one of them — except for Stiles. They were all so different, but the love that he felt between them really helped him whenever thoughts of his father bothered him for days on end.

“Why _is_ everyone here?” Isaac was so warped up in the happiness of having all of his friends around him that he hadn’t realized how weird this was because, to his knowledge, there was no plan for a family dinner tonight. Everyone got quiet then looked at Peter then at Derek.

“Well we ac-“ Derek started first.

“Hello everyone! I’m so happy everyone could make it tonight! I’ll go get started on dinner. Peter, Allison, Scott and, ummm, Jackson! Come help me in the kitchen!” Everyone was so focused on Derek that they hadn’t noticed Talia, Cora and Laura walking in and all jumped at the sound of Talia’s voice. The four that she called on immediately followed her into the kitchen to help her cook without any sign of annoyance, because honestly? Everyone loved Talia and could never have the heart to deny her wishes. Cora came hopping over the couch and landed half on top of Derek and half on Isaac. Laura pushed at her shoulder, “Ease up on Isaac!” before leaning down to kiss his cheek.

“What’s going on?” Isaac asked looking around in worry after realizing just how suspicious his friends and family were being.

Derek reached for his hand and smiled. “You’ll see.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This picks up in the same scene/time of chapter 2 but just based on Stiles! Enjoy!! Xx

Stiles tries to be subtle as he watches Isaac and Derek interact on the couch. Derek is talking about something and Isaac’s smiling, looking about ready to get hitched. He’s staring at Derek with so much light in his eyes as Derek laughs at one of his own corny jokes. Stiles feels his heart speed up as he sees Isaac lean forward, looking ready to kiss Derek, so he thinks fast and jumps up from the floor. 

“Hey! What movie are we watching tonight?” He purposely directs the question only to Derek. He notices how Isaac rolls his eyes and settles more into the couch, staring at Stiles very annoyingly.

“I don’t think we’ll have time for movies tonight.” Stiles already knows this, because everyone, except Isaac, knows what the plans for the tonight are. He just needed to do something quick before Isaac kissed Derek in front of everyone and humilated him. He fakes a sigh of disappointment and plops himself right in between Derek and Isaac. 

“That sucks! My “movies-to-watch” list is getting pretty long! I was hoping to check some off tonight .. with all my best buds,” He sees the look that Derek gives him but pretends that he doesn’t. 

“Maybe if you didn’t add ten movies at a time, then that list wouldn’t be so long.” Stiles rolls his eyes, “Whatever, I check off more than half of that list by the end of every week” 

Derek turns his body towards him, “More than half of that list is absolutely horrid!” Stiles gasps in fake horror and punches Derek’s arm, “Hey! I never see you complaining when you’re curled up under the sheets and laughing at all of my wonderful cinematic choices.” Derek laughs which causes to Stiles laugh too. 

“Let’s hope you don’t force him to watch Star Wars.” Isaac speaks up from next to him and he has to force himself to not roll his eyes. 

“Isaac, oh Isaac, why such negativity?” He puts on a mocking tone and grins. The curly haired boy just rolls his eyes and gets up, heading towards the kitchen, calling for Talia’s. Stiles smiles in victory as Derek’s arm wraps around his shoulder. He puts his face in the space between Stiles neck and shoulder and rests his hand on Stiles’s hip. He starts playing with Derek’s fingers, wiggling and twisting them as Derek rubs his nose down his neck to scent him. 

“Looking very intimate.” Both Stiles and Derek looks up at Boyd who has drawn the attention of the rest of the room. Alison and Lydia share a smile, Cora and Erica roll their eyes but lean forward with interest, a grin spreads across Laura’s face and Boyd just sits there calmy, staring at them with a sly smile. 

Stiles huffs as he leans away from Derek in discomfort with everyone’s eyes on them. He sees Derek reach for him again with a frown, but Stiles just ignores it because the last thing he wants is for everyone to keep looking at them. He starts to feel so weird with being close to Derek without touching in some type way that he has the get up and leave the room. Someone’s behind him, and he knows what that means, so he rushes up the stairs to get to a room far enough from the other’s ears. He enters Derek’s room and goes straight for the laptop to turn on the first song he saw in the man’s playlist. 

When Lydia walks in he sits down on the bed and dramatically throws himself backwards, limbs going everywhere. She doesn’t saying anything, which he really appreciates because he needs a while to get his thoughts in order. He and Lydia became close friends right after he realized that the crush he had wasn’t anything serious and that he’d rather kiss Derek. Lydia knows that he just needs to be quiet for a bit to think, and that when he starts talking he won’t stop and she’d just listen. So, she sits down on the bed and rests her hand on his knee. He feels better for a bit, laying on Derek’s very comfortable bed with one of his favorite songs in the background ... until Cora and Erica run into the room with Laura following behind them. When the door shuts close, he groans and prepares himself to spill his feelings to the group. 

“Speak!” Cora yells as she plops herself down onto Derek’s computer chair.

“What’s going on, Stiles?” Laura asks calmly as she goes to sit on the floor by the bed. He stares up at the ceiling for a bit, trying to figure out what to say before sitting up to lean against the wall.

“I .. I’m terrified to admit that I’ve wasted Derek’s time! When we first discovered our feelings for one another I didn’t want us to date yet. I thought we both had a lot to work out and I had just turned 18. Then two months later I was still stalling things despite spending all our time together and sleeping together. Maybe because we were all too busy killing evil supernatural creatures or because I’m a coward, who knows! Anyway, now it’s almost been a year, I’m about to graduate and I’m so in love with him, and I think he loves me too, but I don’t know anymore because I’ve been pushing him away for so long and I think he likes Isaac who I know likes him, A LOT, and I don’t know how to tell him that I got into NYU.” 

Stiles lets out a deep breath, sighing in relief after letting that all off his chest. He smiles, rests his head against the window and closes his eyes. Then, realizes all the things he just revealed and sits up with a jerk. Everyone knows about his and Derek’s .. complicated situation and their feelings for one another but he’s never admitted to loving him. Not even to himself, so telling a group of four nosey girls was terrifying. He looks around the room to see Lydia and Laura smiling as Cora’s mouth is dropped open in surprise. 

“You love Derek?? My brother Derek?!? Holy shit!” Cora’s whispering, but she’s also yelling and it’s so hilarious that even Stiles has to laugh despite still feeling riled up. 

“Yeah. I do.” He admits and shrugs with a small smile on his face. 

“I mean, we all knew you guys were screwing but ... love?? Dude that’s heavy!” Cora lets out a heavy and dramatic sigh as if she’s the one going through this crisis. 

“Stiles, denying feelings and pushing love away is never a good thing. Not only does it ruin the relationship, but also the friendship.” Lydia says with a tight smile which he knows is a dig towards Cora. He sees her confused face and knows she’s ready to say something back, so he speaks before the two of them start an argument bad enough to make everyone stand back in horror.

“I just, I was always attracted to him but about four months into our .. “situation” I realized how serious I felt for him. I didn’t wanna admit it for a bit because I was barely 18 and he was distant on certain days but then we started having sex and agreed on it inky being that which is never a good thing, and we both have issues but .. I just knew I couldn’t deny it anymore. I love how he touches me, how talks to me, how we argue over stupid things, how confused he STILL is over Star Wars no matter how many time I make him watch it, his eyes and gosh that smile. I just love him, you know? Lydia, Erica .. I know you both understand.” 

“Yeah.” Both Cora and Lydia breathe out at the same time then share a tentative look, a look of remembrance. Lydia quickly looks away and turns her attention back to Stiles. 

“That’s so beautiful Stiles.” Erica says from where she’s sitting next to Laura, “I realized I loved Boyd when we had sex for the first time. He just grabbed me by the waist, slammed me against the wall with zero mercy and-“

“I think he loves you too.” Laura speaks up, cutting Erica off from going on and on about her and Boyd’s wild sex life. He smiles at the thought of Derek returning his feelings, but he can’t help but doubt it. 

“But Isaac definitely likes him.” Lydia says, causing Cora to gag. 

“Isaac is practically our brother! Ew!!” Cora yells and everyone laughs at how disgusted she looks. 

“He’s been through a lot, and Derek’s very comforting to him in that big brother way. Except, Isaac sees it in that “let’s fuck” type of way. I can’t blame him for catching feelings.” Stiles shrugs and chuckles as Laura’s face turns into a grimace matching her younger sister’s.

They’re quiet for a bit then Lydia gasps, “Wait a minute. You got into NYU??Oh my gosh, Stiles!” She wraps her arms around his neck causing them to fall back onto the bed. He feels Laura run her hands through his hair and Cora starts chanting his name. Erica crawls over to ruffle his hair too while Lydia gets off of him and he sinks down onto the floor with a grin. 

“Yeah. The acceptance letter really surprised me. I had already settled on just going to BCU so, I just sent it as a “fuck it” type of thing but I actually got in! You guys, plus my dad and Melissa, are the only ones that know. He grins up at them when they all reach out to touch a part of his body.

Erica lays down onto the ground and sighs, “I can’t believe we’re all growing up.”

Cora groans and Stiles watches as Lydia turns to her. They stare at each other and Lydia’s lips are pursed, making it obvious that she has something to say. The only thing that’s shutting her up is Cora’s stern look, so Lydia sighs and turns away, disappointment clear on her face.

“We all still have a long way to go before we grow up. I’m basically still a third grader!” He jokes trying to take Lydia’s attention off of Cora. 

Before Erica can reply, Derek pokes his head in and frowns, “Did you guys think that my room was the new Beacon Hills hangout spot?” He asks before quickly ducking when Laura tosses a pair of socks at his head.

“Get out of our room!” Erica yell when he fully enters the room and sits on Cora’s lap. 

“What are you guy’s talking about?” He asks innocently, zeroing in on Stiles. He knows how much Derek loves to know everything he’s doing or talking about. He also knows that Derek respects his privacy, so he won’t listen in on conversations that Stiles clearly doesn’t want him to. Derek is always there to listen to, understand and comfort him. He’s always willing to help Stiles through anything, so Stiles is always there for him too. At that moment he wants to just shrug and say “I love you.” but it’s so, so scary.

“Nothing much. Just, how much we’re all growing up.” It’s not exactly a lie, but he knows that Derek knows he isn’t telling the whole truth. They keep eye contact for a while and Stiles starts to feel guilty, ready to tell Derek everything until Cora starts to tickle him and he jumps off of her lap with a scream.

“Derek you really bring down our reputation and pride when you scream like a toddler.” Erica says as she gets off of the floor and runs her hand through her blonde hair.

“Mom says dinner is ready.” He huffs before pushing at Cora’s shoulders hard enough to make her fall out of the chair. Stiles gets up, helps Laura stand and Lydia goes to help Cora. Derek takes a steps towards him, then pauses as if he’s trying to figure out if Stiles wants him to touch him or not in front of the others. He nods his head and goes to hold Derek’s hand, ignoring Erica and Laura’s obnoxious cooing from behind them.

As they enter the dining room, he lets go of Derek’s hand and goes to sit in the chair next to the empty one that’s meant for Jackson. Derek sits to his left and he has to hide his smirk when he feels the man’s hand rest high on his thigh. He looks up, Isaac is staring at them with an irritated look, but before he can say anything that would be classified as “rude”, Talia walks in holding onto a big bowl of spaghetti, Isaac’s favorite. Stiles wants to be annoyed, but, to be fair, they had burgers and curly fries when she offered him the bite. Jackson follows behind her with a frilly pink apron and both Stiles and Cora burst out laughing despite the glare he shoots them. 

“Looking sexy,!” Stiles yells as Jackson’s face goes bright red. 

“Yeah, I wore it to impress Derek. Maybe I’ll steal your man.” Jackson says with a smirk and a tint of lust in his voice that shuts Stiles up. He hears Talia chuckles and Derek starts to laugh from next to him. She sets the food out and everyone waits for her sit at the head of the table before they all dig in. 

“Thank you guys for all showing up tonight. This is a very important night.” Talia speaks up and they all turn to her, smiling at Isaac’s confused face. 

“Can someone please tell me what exactly is so important?” He asks, but no one even spares him a glance.

“Be patient, my little Isaac.” Cora says as she blows him a kiss. 

“How are things going with school Isaac?” Talia asks, shifting the conversation away from his question. 

“I have three more online classes to finish before May. It’s super stressful, but Derek’s really been helping me so I should be finished in time to graduate with everyone.” Stiles pauses with his fork halfway to his mouth as he watches the look that Isaac is giving Derek. It’s a look that Stiles knows all too well because Stiles gives it to Derek all the time; a look of absolute adoration and he can’t help but lean more towards Derek’s side. 

“Yeah, we’ve all been more than happy to help you out bud!” They stare at each other, both with fake smiles and Stiles thanks the heavens that Derek decides to rub his shoulder to calm him down. Derek’s doing it to ease him down, which Stiles appreciates so much, but it also makes Isaac jealous which Stiles loves so much. He eyes the motion as Stiles leans more into Derek’s touch with a relaxed smile. They stare at each other intently as everyone in the room watches them.

“Boys...” Talia says softly.

“Are we here for dinner or a cat fight?” Peter whispers and it’s only when the others start to laugh that Stiles looks away and continues to eat.

No one talks for a bit, just the sound of silverware and Scott gulping down his water fills the room. Stiles starts to feel bad for causing drama on such an important night but, gosh, Isaac really knows how to push his buttons. He starts to say something to ease the tension but before he can, Jackson clears his throat which makes everyone turn to him.

“I got into Oxford.” He says bluntly and Stiles swears that he hears everyone’s jaws drop. He’s smirking, always the lover of attention, and Stiles sees Lydia’s mouth open a little before she puts her head down and starts playing with her pasta. He knows how important this is for Jackson because the boy has been talking about attending Oxford since Stiles met him. His family wanted him to attend Harvard, because that’s where his father went, but Jackson has always been a type of rebel. 

Stiles also knows how devastating this must be for Lydia. She’s already set to attend MIT in Boston and up until about two minutes ago, Jackson had agreed to go to Harvard, so that they could be as close as possible. When she looks up with a smile, Stiles knows it’s fake and they lock eyes. He can see her sadness and he wants to run over and hug her, but that would only shift the attention off of Jackson’s success which would result in a very big fight for the couple. So, she just turns to Jackson and kisses his cheek. 

“I’m so proud of you!” Lydia says, allowing Jackson to turn and give her a big sloppy kiss. Everyone groans except for Erica who whoops and bangs on the table, always the lover of pda. 

“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” Lydia pushes her chair out and leaves the dining room with her head down. Jackson frowns and watches her leave before quickly recovering with a smirk and drinking his water. His announcement must have encouraged everyone to share their recent achievements and plans because soon enough everyone is going around congratulating the other. 

“I’m going BCU for pre-med .. gonna follow in my mom’s footsteps!” Scott says and Allison’s eyes light up in excitement. She must have thought that Scott would go away to a more recognized college, but everyone knew that that would never happen. Scott’s a baby when he’s away from the dark-haired girl for more than two days, so imagine a whole semester where he could only see her on weekends. 

“Boyd is starting training at the firestation right after graduation!” Erica spits out and sticks her tongue out at the look that he gives her. Boyd has never been one to gloat, so Erica always made sure to do it for him. She gives him a kiss on the cheek, “And I’ve gotten into BCU for education! I’m gonna be teaching your kids!” She points to Scott & Allison and when she points at Stiles & Derek, Isaac snorts from beside her. 

“Boyd this pa-, I mean family doesn’t have good luck with fire. So, Make sure to stand outside of Allison’s house at all times in case anymore crazy family members visit town.” Peter speaks up from the other head of the table. Stiles feels Derek stiffen from beside him and he quickly reaches to hold onto the hand that’s on his thigh, entwining their fingers and squeezing onto them. 

“Very funny Peter!” She laughs, sarcasm clear in her voice. Talia rolls her eyes, “Erica you’ll be the funnest teacher at whatever school you decide to work at. And Boyd, I’m so happy for you. It’s great that you’re not going to college just because everyone else is.” 

“Yeah, I’ve never been too fond of school. Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to blast Peter with the hose. On full power.” He says with the most serious expression ever as everyone else starts to laugh. He doesn’t crack a smile until Peter tries to discreetly flip him off and fails when Talia catches him.

“What about you Alli?” Laura asks 

“Um, well I’ll be running dad’s shop full time for a while and, who knows, maybe I’ll become a teacher in a few years? Or a detective? Or a-“

“Assassin?” Peter pipes up again and dodges the meatball that Allison flies his way. He blows her a kiss and this time he’s the one getting flipped off. Everyone understands that Peter copes with the death of his brother with humor, so Allison allows him to make jokes about her own family’s psychotic past. 

“I think you’d be a lovely detective, Alli. Maybe you and Stiles could be partners!” Derek starts to laugh and Stiles notices that he loosens the tight grip he hand on his hand. 

“Please tell me you’re going to BCU for forensics and not law! You’d be the most annoying lawyer ever. Judges would just dismiss you’re cases to shut you up.” Jackson says from next to him. Scott starts to giggle and Stiles has to shoot him a look of betrayal before Stiles buying himself some time by shoving a whole bunch of pasta in his mouth. 

“Um .. I’m, uh, still waiting for acceptance letters. But, I will be doing forensics thank you very much Jackass!” He lies and Talia frowns a little, making him know that she heard his heartbeat pick up. 

After that, they all continue eating and talking about everything under the sun.

“... I mean I could have killed him, but I remembered my lessons with my dear big bro Derek. So I sat back down and focused on my “inner mental strength” as Der would say.” Cora mock Derek’s voice which has every laughing at how perfectly accurate it is. 

Stiles wants to talk to everyone, but tonight he’s mainly focused on Derek. He’s not sure why he feels so protective, well, actually he does. Isaac has been staring at them all night and his emotions are going from uncomfortable to annoying to jealousy. He so badly wants to say something, but the mood in the room is so happy and he doesn’t want to ruin that. Plus, he really doesn’t want to upset Derek who hates when the two boys argue. They haven’t had a serious talk about Stiles’ jealousy and Isaac’s insistent flirtation, but he knows it’s coming soon with how much he and Isaac snap at each other over Derek.

“Ok everyone.” Talia says and everyone quiets down because they all know what time it is. When Isaac realizes that everyone’s silent and staring at him he starts to chew slower, uncomfortable with the attention and sets his fork down cautiously.

“What’s going on?” His eyes dart around the room, ready to panic before Talia calls his name. His locks eyes with hers and he instantly calms down, falling prey to her nurturing smile.

“Within a month of living with us, I knew you were special to me. You’ve warmed to everyone,” Stiles opens his mouth to say something but Derek cuts him off with a stern look, “and every time I see you smile, hear you laugh or tell a joke, or watch you sleep through the night I realize just how much I care for you. I love you, we all love you, and you are without a doubt pack.” She looks to Peter and he nods with a small smile. 

He chuckles, “Pack? What are dogs?” Stiles really does try his hardest to stay serious, but he can’t help the obnoxious laugh he lets out. “You’d be surprised, dude!” He gasps and both Derek and Jackson smack both his arms from either side of him.

“No, not dogs. Wolves.” Peter says without a care in the world. One of the best things in the world is seeing someone’s face go through various emotions in the span of a minute. Isaac starts to laugh when Peter first says it, then he takes a breath and chuckles, slowly eating more spaghetti. He looks around the room with a bright smile, expecting everyone else to be laughing along. When he realizes they aren’t laughing and that they’re very serious, he sobers up. His face is one for the books, it’s so funny that Stiles wants to take a picture and make copies for the whole pack. 

“What??” Starting to sound annoyed. 

“Isaac, we are werewolves. This is a pack. I was born a werewolf and so we’re my three children,” Isaac’s looks at all three of the Hale siblings with horror, “And Peter, was bitten by me.”

“What??” He asks again, his eyes scanning the room as if he’s still waiting for one of them to crack and tell him it’s a prank. 

“Wait, wait ..” Isaac’s eyes get big when Talia nods then he starts to laugh again. He’s hysterical, laughing like he just heard the funniest thing ever said on Earth. His voice rings through the house and Stiles just wants to stick a sock in the mouth. Everyone looks at each other because they know that he’s beginning to panic. 

“Isaac. Isaac, look at me.” Derek says and catches his attention, “We need you to calm down. I know that this is a lot, but we’re being serious. This is real.” His voice is soothing, making Stiles feel guilty for the tint of jealousy that rises in him.

He looks to Talia and she flashes her eyes, going from her beautiful hazel to the striking Alpha red. Talia taps her fingers on the table, signaling all the other wolves in the room to flash their eyes too for Isaac to see. He stares at them as his jaw drops and scoots his chair out a bit, holding tightly onto the edge of the table. 

“This is ... woah” He sounds breathless despite having been sat down for almost an two hours. 

“Oh come on,” Stiles says throwing his arms up in annoyance. Derek shoots him a glare but he ignores it, “You had to know something was off! If not anything supernatural then you had to at least think they were spies or something! They walk into rooms as quiet as cats, a poke in the arm from Derek can like dislocate your shoulder, Cora is literally a wrestler with super strength, Peter is ... Peter; creepy and as sly as Swiper the freaking fox, and Laura’s like all of these things put together! Plus Talia just perfectly fits the whole “mama wolf” stereotype!” Stiles yells rolling his eyes at Isaac’s obliviousness

“Please don’t tell me he’s a wolf too because someday I want to be able to kick his a-“

Stiles laughs, “100% human my dude! No fur and and fangs for me.” He smirks, ignoring that Isaac was just about to threaten him. 

Jackson laughs and Isaac looks at him, “Kanima and werewolf. It’s ... complicated.” He answers before Isaac can ask. Allison starts to snorts and when Isaac looks at her she points to Stiles, “I’m in the same boat as Stiles.” 

Just that moment, everyone turns to the sound of Lydia’s heels clicking as she enters the room. Stiles knows she’s been crying because they’re best friends, also because her under-eye makeup is blotchy. He really wants to run to and hold her, but that’d just make her cry more. Which would result in her being very angry with him for making her way too emotional in front of everyone. When Lydia sees that she has their attention, she quickly wipes at her eyes and smiles brightly. 

“We told Isaac!?” She squeals, acting as if she didn’t just hear some of the worst news of her life from her boyfriend.

“You too Lydia??” The fear in Isaac’s voice is enough to make Peter and Jackson laugh as they hide behind their hands. She rolls her eyes, “No. I’m a Banshee. I’ll show you sometime.” She winks. Stiles notices how she flinches at first when Jackson reaches out to touch her, then leans back onto his chest.

Isaac repeatedly nods his head, trying to wrap his brain around everything, and everyone collectively gives him a minute to think. Talia gets out of her chair and moves to kneel next to him and holds his hand. Derek goes to get up too and Stiles quickly scrambles to hold onto his elbow with a firm grip. Derek looks down, “Stiles, come on..” He whispers, but it does no help as all the other wolves in the room perk up. Stiles gives Derek an intense stare, silently telling him to sit back down. 

“It’s fine, I got him Derek.” Talia says, when she notices. Stiles doesn’t remove his hand until Derek relaxes back into his seat and rests his hand back onto his thigh. 

“Isaac, honey, we’re telling you this because as Alpha and mother of this pack, I’ve decided to offer you the bite.” Talia’s voice is steady despite having tears in her eyes. Stiles knows how important this is to her, how expanding the Hale pack is always an emotional process. She’s cried for every bite offering, but this time it’s different; Isaac is her son. 

“The bite? Like to ...” He looks at her curiously, gripping onto her hand.

“Yes. The bite to turn you. Now, I need you to understand that you don’t have to accept. I’ve offered the bite to Allison, Stiles and Lydia and they all said no, and I wasn’t offended. They aren’t wolves, but they’re still pack, and always will be. As will you be even if you choose deny this offer. Remember, you can take as long as you need to make your decision. I just needed you to finally know the “big family secret” because you are family. You’re already pack with or without the bite. If you choose to accept, I have to warn you, it’s going to take a lot of getting used to, but that’s what we’re all here for. Derek, Laura and Boyd will teach you control. Cora, Jackson, Peter and Erica will teach you how to fight. Scott can teach you to-“

“Ok.” Isaac breathes out. 

Stiles hears everyone gasp, even himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long!! I’ll make sure to getting started on chapter 4 asap which picks up the next day after chapter 3! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is in Lydia's "pov" and picks up the next day after the dinner in chapter 3! Enjoy!!

Lydia walks into the kitchen to get a snack before Talia summons them all to help her cook breakfast. She sees Stiles and Derek kissing against the island and rolls her eyes fondly at them. Stiles is sitting on a stool with Derek in between his opened legs leaning down to seductively kiss the boy. They’re very intimate this morning, so Lydia rushes to make her presence known.

“Easy boys. No sex in the kitchen please.” She says, stealing Stiles’ orange when he leans away from Derek with a groan. She watches as Derek rolls his eyes and grabs Stiles’ chin, pulling the boy’s mouth to his own. Derek gives him multiple kisses with obnoxious smooching noises, and she immediately feels guilty for how jealous she gets.

“I’m gonna go for run with Isaac.” Derek says and kisses Stiles one more time, hugging Lydia and heading out the door. Stiles swivels in his hair and turns to face Lydia with a blissful smile, cheeks bright red. “I’m guessing you spent the night in Derek’s room?” She asks, eyebrows raised with a smirk.

Stiles shrugs, “Yeah, we watched a great movie!” Lydia rolls her eyes and goes to the frige for a water bottle. Stiles clears his throat, “Hey, I didn’t get time to talk to you last night. Are you okay?” Stiles asks from behind her. She pretends she doesn’t see the water that’s right in front of her and pokes her way through the items in the fridge to buy herself some time.

“Hm?” Is all she can come with as she walks back towards Stiles. He looks at her, “Seems like Jackson hit us all, especially you, with a big surprise last night.” Lydia already knew that if anyone caught on last night, it would have been Stiles.

“Honestly? I’m absolutely livid. But I can’t be. I have to the supportive girlfriend. So, I’ll be quiet even if I want to rip his face o-“

Cora comes bounding into the kitchen, shutting Lydia up, and pulling her shirt down with a groan, always grumpy in the mornings. She ruffles Stiles’ hair and sits next to him, stealing the orange that Lydia originally stole from him. They watch her as she eats obliviously before looking up at the both of them who are standing there uncomfortably silent.

“Why do I get the feeling that I just interrupted something?” She asks with her mouth full.

“I still can’t believe Isaac said yes so quickly!” Stiles says, finding a way to steer the conversation and taking the last slice of orange from Cora’s hands. She tries snatching it back, but a hungry Stiles is always quicker than a tired werewolf.

“It’s crazy, but good crazy, you know? I love how much our pack is expanding.” Cora has a small, sad smile on her face. They all know the reason for the tint of sadness, but decide to stay quiet.

Lydia was the first person that the Hales asked to turn. Peter sniffed her powers out and steered Cora in her direction, so the two could get close which resulted in them dating. When things became serious, Cora began getting nervous about telling Lydia the big family secret. She lucked out when, one night in bed, Lydia jumped up and started to panic, breathing heavy and pacing the room. Cora tried calming her down, holding her close and whispering comforting words, but none of that worked when Lydia started screaming bloody murder. Peter revealed to everyone, including Lydia, that she was a Banshee, and Cora no longer felt scared to reveal herself because Lydia was supernatural too. Their relationship really grew so much after that; both of them having someone to confide in was the greatest thing that could ever happen.

Talia was enchanted and impressed by Lydia and finally decided it was time to expand the pack. They had her over for dinner, Talia offered the bite, but Lydia said no, claiming to be perfectly happy to join the packs as just a powerful banshee. So, the pack finally got another member, but it wasn’t exactly what Peter wanted. He wanted Talia to give someone the bite, and although a banshee strong enough to take down any creature that comes her way was spectacular, he wanted the pack to expand with wolves.

—

Peter had gotten tired of waiting for Talia to find the “perfect people”, so he set out to find them himself. He creepily hung around the high school - deciding that the right teens would be the best place to start - and watched the people that Cora would interact with. He initially scoped out the athletes because of their strength, but he realized that they were all stuck up, cocky assholes who’d out werewolves for attention or college recruitments. So, that idea was out the window. Just like the idea for the brainiacs who would be more happy to hand their secrets over to the FBI or something so that they could win a Nobel Peace Prize.

For the next few months, he paid attention to every one of Cora’s friends from school who showed great potential, strength, desperation and loyalty before he was finally able to perfect the list and narrow it down to two. For the final stretch of the plan, he got Talia out of the house for a weekend, and got Cora and Lydia to throw a party and invite the whole school so that Lydia could win homecoming queen.

Peter was annoyed as this resulted in his beautiful home being packed with horny, drunk and obnoxious teenagers, but he waited patiently for his selected two to show up. He immediately sniffed out the first one as he quietly entered the crowded house, and steered over to the doorway. Boyd, Vernon Boyd. This one he didn’t actually get from Cora’s group or any connection of it.

He picked him out when he saw him quietly walking in the hallways. The boy kept to himself and talked when needed, and wasn’t a show off despite towering over everyone else in the school by height and strength. He was young, but Peter could tell the guy could hold his own against anyone or thing. Peter thanked the heavens as he followed the boy out of school and saw him meet up with Derek to work out. The whole time in the gym, they talking and laughed and helped each other out which meant that Peter had hit the jackpot because he would already have another Hale on his side when he brought it to Talia’s attention that Boyd needs the bite.

He held his head high as he fully entered the house, looking around at his classmates before spotting Derek in the corner talking to Laura and made his way over to them. His arms were big, heart beat healthy and everyone seemed to steer away from him in what seems like fear - surprisingly, since he didn’t bother or talk to anyone - or as Peter sees it: in respect.

He got bored waiting by the door for the other “recruit”, so he wandered around, taking joy in listening to sixteen year old’s silly conversations. Lydia noticed some of her friends come in and went towards them, squealing with fake excitement. Peter rolls his eyes, constantly waiting for her to dump her “friends” and show people who she really is: extremely strong and intelligent. Derek was holding an empty beer bottle in the doorway of the kitchen and looking over everyone, making sure everything was fine and everyone was okay the same way Robert used to.

Peter could tell he was on edge and went to go ease him down when Boyd beat him to it and he heard the boy tell Derek to loosen up and get another beer. Peter smiles, turning on his heels to go back in the direction he came from and rushing to break up a couple from practically humping each other on his couch. After he’s done with that, he runs upstairs to lock his bedroom door because the last thing he needed was teenagers spreading chlamydia all over his silk sheets imported from Italy.

Peter was ready to give up on Recruit #2, when the door finally opened and he smelled the boys enter the house. The Recruit stood in the door, nervous, and whispering with his bald little sidekick at his side. Peter watched them interact, both staring around the room and trying to push the other to go further into the house. He rolls his eyes and walks towards them, trying to seem as welcoming as possible.

"Hello boys, I'm Peter Hale, Cora’s uncle. Cora is right over there," They both stare at him with big eyes, "come on now. She’s waiting for you." He waves his hand in Cora's direction, and rolls his eyes, again, with a sigh as they whisper to each other and shuffle their feet. He watches both boys for the rest of the night; Scott McCall and Vernon Boyd. Vernon's an obvious choice, he's big and strong as hell and Derek trusts him. It's a no brainer, and from what he sees, the boy's very kind just like Talia likes them.

Scott, on the other hand, is .. different. He's small, quiet, doesn't work out and always has a goofy grin on his face. Yet, there's something that Peter sees, something different. He has a type of spark to him, and Peter got a gut feeling when he laid eyes on him - It's a feeling he can't explain. The only problem is that Scott hardly knows Cora or Lydia. He's acquaintances with Lydia because of his schoolboy crush on Allison, but that's it. Another problem, a big problem, is his little friend Stiles. Every time Peter looks out for Scott, - he won't say "spy" because that makes him sound like a fucking pedophile - Stiles is following behind him and always, always, talking. Ok, he knows the boys are stepbrothers, but come on, can't they get separate friends? He knows this will cause a problem because if Scott accepts the bite then, he'll have to tell Stiles who will then want a bite too. And, no offense, but Stiles just isn’t werewolf material.

The party seems to go one for hours, and Peter’s annoyance grows more and more every minute. Yes, everything was going as planned, but teenagers really are a handful, and watching them makes Peter more and more secure in his decision to never have kids.

While Stiles has Scott in a corner giving him a pep talk, Allison walks over and starts chatting happily with Scott which then lead to Lydia and Cora coming over. Boyd was having a very animated conversation with Derek and Laura which must have been hilarious with how hard they were all laughing. Peter smirked as their laughing caught Cora’s group’s attention and lured them over. Everyone introduced themselves and soon enough they were flowing with conversation as if they were friends for years. Peter almost broke out in dance when everyone left except for the group who offered to help clean up. Then, he actually did bust some moves when Cora and the sidekick suggested a game of truth of dare which they all agreed too.

—

“Conspiracy: maybe, he only said yes to get closer to Derek!” Stiles says sarcastically, causing both he and Lydia to laugh.

Cora stares at them blankly, “Maybe, he said yes so quickly because he’s been through such horrible things that he’s desparate for love and a family. Not everything is about romantics and relationships.” They both stare at her in surprise, neither of them knowing how to react. Cora hardly snaps like this, especially not on Stiles who she always says is the only pack member who can appreciate and understand her sarcasm.

”Uh .. dude it was a joke? But, yeah, you’re right. Sorry.” He slides off of the chair and heads back upstairs to Derek’s room. Cora rolls her eyes and Lydia stares at her, waiting for an explanation.

“Are you going to talking about it or am I going to have to force it out of you?” She makes her voice smaller, knowing that if she sounds rough or prying then Cora is less likely to share.

“Not to you.” The young wolf growls, leaving the room in a hurry.

“Great talk!” Lydia yells after her sarcastically, angry and annoyed. She’s ready to make her dramatic exit out of the kitchen too when Talia walks in, tying her robe and smiling.

“Good morning, sweetheart.” She kisses Lydia’s cheek and heads to the fridge, getting out ingredients and making Lydia know it’s too late to leave the kitchen now because, come on, who can ever deny cooking with Talia?

They’re working around each other silently for a bit; Lydia cracks eggs, drops eggs, beats pancake and waffle batter, helps to cut fruit and all the breakfast jazz while anticipating the talk that she knows is bound to happen.

“I noticed you were upset last night.” Talia says offhandedly while washing some vegetables.

Here it comes. Lydia tenses and before she can respond, Allison, Laura and Erica enter the kitchen talking lowly amongst another. They notice Lydia’s tense shoulders and expression and quiet down, stopping in their tracks and silently asking permission to stay.

“It’s okay.” They nod and go to sit at the island, “I was upset last night,” Lydia admits, pushing the knife away and picking up the whisk to busy herself with the already perfect waffle batter, “I didn’t think anyone but Stiles noticed.”

“A mother always sees.” Lydia smiles.

“You don’t want him to go.” Talia states, without even asking because she already knows, and that’s what Lydia really loves about her.

“I didn’t even know he was going until he spit it out last night.” Lydia grits out. Talia turns the tap off, wiping her hand and turning to look at the red-headed girl.

“We started off shaky; he was an emotional mess, I still had feelings for .. yeah, he cheated a couple times, and so much more, but we worked it out. His walls went down, he was able to be intimate in romantic ways, he stayed faithful and I learned to love him for him. We realized how serious this was, and when he got accepted to Harvard he said he would go, so that we’d be in the same state and city to still build our relationship. Then, last night he decides to drop it to everyone before me that he’s going to fucking England!” Lydia throws the closest thing near her, which happens to be an innocent fork, and Talia just grabs her hands and nods understandingly.

“When I was pregnant with Laura, I hated how much workload Richard would take on. He’d come home with sore shoulders, neck and back. His eyes weren't the bright and happy blue that I fell in love with anymore. They were red and dull and he had the world’s worst bags under his eyes. We argued a lot over it because he loved work too much to work less hours and take more off days. Until finally, he took a week off and planned a trip to Colorado .. he said he wanted to teach me how to ski,”

Talia and Laura laugh, rolling her eyes and Lydia sees the tears forming in her eyes, “we rented a cottage, bought overpriced skiing clothes, drank hot chocolate probably five times a day and just relished in each other’s company. Everything was perfect until one night, I found him sneakily making business calls in the bathroom while he pretended to shower! I only caught him because the dodo forgot to actually turn on the shower!” All the women burst out laughing and those tears finally drop.

“Oh, gosh, I gave him a piece of my mind! I called him an inconsiderate asshole and a liar and said that he chose work before me and our marriage and our baby and our love. He tried getting a word in, but I slammed the door and started packing my things, telling him that the trip was ending early. I was so angry that I even got a seat away from him on the plane. We hardly talked for two weeks and I cried every night, until one day he shows up at my friends apartment - because I dramatically decided to leave our house - on a Monday morning in swim trunks and picnic basket. Before I could get a word out and start yelling, he kisses me and sits me down. Turns out, he had been working so, so hard because he was in the process of giving Peter his position. He was, in a way, stepping down from the company he started on his own from the ground up, just so he could have more time in the future for me and our baby girl.” Laura wipes at her eyes and both Erica and Allison pull her into a hug.

“You’re probably wondering what this story has to do with what you’re going through, but it’s simple. Just talk to him. Trust me, I know it’s hard because men are as stubborn as toddlers, but you and Jackson need to sit down and have a talk about this like the adults you are becoming. I wouldn’t listen to Richard when he tried explaining the situation, and stopped talking to him for two weeks, despite us being married adults and me being four months pregnant with our first child. Now, I always think about those two weeks that I wasted being mad at him. Those two weeks that I wish I could get back. So, when you two are alone, and calm, please talk this through.” Talia kisses Lydia’s forehead, wipes at her wet eyes and cheeks, and gets back to cooking breakfast.

They all start helping, Boyd eventually coming down to help too. Lydia watches how he makes a beeline for Erica, wrapping his arms around her waist and peppering her neck with small, gentle and loving kisses. He rests his face in her hair, smelling and kissing her there too, obviously scenting his mate. No one comments, because they all know how openly touchy these two are, so they all just ignore it, but Lydia can’t. She starts thinking about all the other couples in the pack. They’re all so intimate and loving, in ways that she can’t help but envy because of how much she and Jackson lack that.

When breakfast is ready, everyone makes their way downstairs in a hurry. Peter comes in, kisses Talia’s cheek and starts fixing a plate for her before worrying about himself. Erica is putting food on two plates, Boyd’s arms still wrapped around her waist with a smile as he whispers something to her. Scott kisses Allison’s cheeks, causing her to giggle and fall into his open arms. Derek and Stiles come back downstairs together, Derek’s palming the back of Stiles’ neck and pulls him closer into his side making Stiles lean upward to playfully bite his cheek.

When Jackson comes down and simply kisses her cheek she smiles tightly, making her way over to the table. Isaac slugs into the kitchen and on Cora’s cue, they all break into horribly loud and noisy howls. Stiles, Cora snd Erica are the loudest, of course, and Isaac groans, covering up his ears in fright.

“I can hear you guys swallow from upstairs so THIS is very painful!!” He screams and they all laugh, getting up to hug him. When Derek, Peter and Boyd get closer he shakes his head and actually runs behind Talia with a frown.

“You three,” he shudders, “are pure evil. I don’t care how wolfy strong I am now, last night was pure evil! It feels like my legs are going to fall off.” He wraps his arm around Talia’s waist and she starts running her fingers through his hair.

They all watched as Talia gave Isaac the bite last night. When he gasped, they all stared in equal fear and awe. Isaac fell to the ground for a bit, breathing and gasping so heavy they feared the bite didn’t take. Until he looked up with beautiful yellow eyes and growled, causing the other wolves to howl. They all went running, even the humans, for hours until Peter, Boyd, Scott and Peter decided to take Isaac out by themselves. Something about “entrance training” and the boy came back close to tears and limping.

Everyone takes turns messing with Isaac’s new senses for the rest of the day. They say ridiculously sexual things knowing he’ll hear everything, they tell him stories of werewolf lore and even trick him into thinking there’s a “mating run”. The pack does this with every new member, but with Isaac it has to be the most hilarious because he looks genuinely terrified.  
Later that night, Talia and Peter head out and leave the kids all alone. Cora suggested getting drunk, but quieted down when Laura and Derek shoot her a glare. When Stiles heads into the kitchen to get desert, Lydia follows behind him.  
“You’ve noticed how weird Cora’s been right?” She whispers, hoping that Cora’s too busy to hear them talk about her.  
“Yeah, trust me, I’ve noticed since this morning when she snapped at me. I know she loves a good time, but “get drunk”? At seven at night?” He shrugs, getting the huge tubs of ice cream out.

“I tried talking to her about it, but she snapped on me too.” Lydia grabs a bowl of vanilla for her Jackson to share.

“Maybe that’s for the better, Lyds. You two can start talking about puppies and end up at each other’s throat.” Lydia frowns, hating that her and Cora are the complete opposite of how they used to be.

“Yeah,” Lydia sighs, “I’ll get Laura or Erica to talk to her.” She heads back into the kitchen with as many bowls of ice cream as she can hold, handing them all out and trying not to get annoyed at how cuddly they all are.

Boyd and Erica are sitting on the floor, she’s sitting between his legs with his arms wrapped around her. Allison and Scott are also on the floor, laying down pressed tightly together with a blanket wrapped around them. Cora has her head on Isaac’s shoulder sitting on the opposite end of the couch that Derek and Stiles are on. Stiles is sitting with his legs in Derek’s lap, laughing with Derek as he mocks the younger boy for eating so many sprinkles. Laura’s in between Stiles and Cora, snuggled up to her sister and smiling down at her phone. Lydia sighs when she sees Jackson on the armchair by himself. Despite being highly annoyed, she goes to sit with him, not wanting anyone else to notice that they aren’t exactly on good terms.

Jackson takes the ice cream from her and kisses her quickly, settling into the chair and pulling her back onto his chest.  
He whispers, “I feel like I haven’t seen you all day.”

She pats his hand, “Yeah.”

~

It’s been a month since the incident at dinner and Lydia feels horrible. She was ready to tell Jackson how she felt, but then he decided to tell his father who wasn’t too happy with him. Something about the Harvard family legacy and how he’s breaking tradition. Jackson came to her house fuming and slamming doors, and how could she start another argument right after he got into one with his father? So, she continued to play the supportive girlfriend role. And after another week when she, again, made her mind up to tell him, he comes to her all happy because his father finally got over the fact that he wasn’t going to Harvard. Again, how could she start a fight when he was so happy? So, it’s been a month of her pretending, and she thought she’d get less upset as time went on, but, nope, she just kept getting angrier. Jackson never brought up the fact that this could completely obliterate their plans. Lydia was banking on the fact that he hadn’t enrolled yet kept her afloat because until he enrolls, she can get him to change his mind.

So, this is why she’s in her room blasting rock music while working on her speech for graduation. Lydia always knew how intelligent she was, so it was no surprise when they announced that she’d be awarded valedictorian. Her parents are off on a trip to Vegas, so she’s home alone for the weekend, with zero plans to do anything but write and brood.

Of course, her plans are interrupted when her door comes flying open and an angry Stiles throws himself onto her bed.  
She sighs, “Oh, hello Stiles! Thanks for somehow entering my house even though my front door was locked and coming into my room without knocking!” She’s being sarcastic, and he knows it, but still groans out, “You’re welcome.”

Lydia spins around in her computer chair, staring at him as he shuffles uncontrollably on her bed trying to get comfortable. Finally, he settles down, holding a big, fluffy pillow to his chest and frowning. “Are you go-“

”Derek’s been spending so much time with Isaac!” Stiles spits out before she can even ask. Lydia groans, knowing this was coming.

She goes to sit next to him, “Stiles come on .. you know how wolves are. He only got turned, what, a month ago? You know he has a lot of training and learning to do.”  
The boy sighs dramatically, showing Lydia that he knows she’s right, but will continue to be stubborn and jealous.

“Ok but Derek’s blown off three dates with me saying he was busy just for me to find out he was teaching Isaac how to freaking correctly bite someone or something! Or,” He dramatically clears his throat, “Hey Babe, Isaac’s really struggling with his hearing right now, so I can’t make it.’ “ He does his best impression of Derek’s low, and sometimes dull, voice and Lydia can’t help but laugh.

“You two aren’t together. You don’t own him.” She says blunty, and starts to regret it when Stiles frowns harder. “Sorry, I-“

“No, you’re right, I’m being stupid. Isaac’s officially pack now, he’s a wolf. A very new wolf who needs to be around the other wolves 24/7.” He sighs, playing with his fingers and shrugging.

“Maybe, I’ll just poke my head into one of those training sessions one day to make sure he isn’t getting too romantic with my- with Derek.” He smiles and pops up from his relaxing position on the bed.

“How are things with Jackson?” Lydia groans, “Not good.” Stiles frowns, again, and grabs her hand “You want to talk?”

She thinks about it for a bit, “Not right now. Want to help with my grad speech?”

They spend three hours in her room working on her speech. The jokes that Stiles wanted her to add in were bad enough for her to start regretting asking him for help. But, Lydia loves him so much that she agrees to slightly mention him alone in the speech, which she knows will cause jealousy among the pack. When Stiles leaves, Jackson calls to say he can’t come over tonight and she can’t help the feeling of happiness. She was feeling very good about getting closer to perfecting this speech, and seeing Jackson right now would just ruin her mood. She texts him back a simple and fake frowny face and gets ready for bed.

Before laying down, Lydia looks at the framed picture of her and Jackson that she keeps by her bed. It was a six months ago when Jackson decided to show a rare sign of romanticism. He went out of his way to secretly plan a weekend trip to surprise her for their anniversary. They drove up to San Francisco and stayed in one of his parents many vacation homes. They spent the whole weekend happy, eating, having sex and just being in love - the love that Lydia always wanted from him. Lydia stares at the picture and thinks about that weekend for a little more, and decides to talk to Jackson tomorrow. She was going to remind him of their love and get him to Harvard. She remembers how in love they were that weekend and how that strengthened their relationship so much. She truly believes that they can make it through this. Hopefully.

~

They were driving back to Lydia’s house after their annual dinner with Jackson’s parents, and she was finally ready to tell Jackson how she felt. Jackson was in the passenger seat grinning happily at his phone. Lydia smiles, “What are you so happy about?”

“My sweater came in the mail.” She glances at him, sees how big his smile is.

“What sweater?”

“My Oxford sweater! Well, I should say jumper now to get with this British slang.”

Lydia freezes, “What?”

“I’m going to be an English man, now! I need to get with the British culture!” He’s still smiling, saying this in a way that shows he thinks Lydia should already know this.

“Jackson did you .. did you accept?” He glances at her and nods his head, “Why would you do that?” Lydia’s trying to control her emotions, not wanting to get in a screaming match with him while driving.

“Lyds what do you mean? I sent in my deposit and enrolled as soon as I got my acceptance letter. Did you expect me to not do that?” He’s lookin at her as if she’s stupid, and it starts to anger her even more.

Lydia laughs, “Oh my gosh.” She starts to laugh, trying to breathe and calm down. “Without telling me? Jackson why would you do that??”

Jackson’s quiet beside her, then scoffs, “I feel like you aren’t as happy as you should be for me.”

“Yeah, well how am I supposed to be happy when my boyfriend of two years breaks a huge promise, secretly applies to a school in another fucking continent, then proceeds to act like everything is perfect without once showing that, oh yeah, I agreed to go to fucking Harvard!” Jackson looks taken aback, his mouth hanging open in shock before twisting into anger.

”You can’t possibly-“

“I’m not finished! You’ve put me through so much shit that I don’t deserve, but this might just be the worst, Jackson. You humiliated me, you told your grand news to everyone before even letting me know that you applied! How are we supposed to be continue on to build our relationship if you’re in fucking England and I’m in Boston?? You’ve cheated, you’ve shut me out, you’ve embarrassed and degraded me and through all of that I stayed bec-“ She’s full on screaming now, and she’s getting so emotional that she has to pull over to the side of the road, fearing that she’ll cause an accident.

”I never begged you to stay.” Jackson cuts Lydia off, his voice so stern that she immediately quiets down. He’s glaring at her coldly with nothing but anger behind his eyes.

He smirks, “I mean, let’s be honest, you only stayed because Cora didn’t want you anymore. You ran her away, so you settled for little old me and stayed because you needed something to busy you. Jackson was something you could fix since it didn’t work with Cora, so yes Lydia I did a lot of shit but you hurt me too! You hurt me every time you stare at her, every time you argue with her, every time you go silent and shut me out when the topic nears the memories you have together. The list goes on Lydia! Remember when you used me as arm candy to go to her party, when you encouraged me to get the bite just so Cora would be oh so angry that her ex-girlfriends new boy toy is part of her pack!”

Lydia stares at him in shock. She knows she did stupid things when they first started dating but he’s never brought it up.

“So yes, I agreed to go to Harvard, yes I sent in that application for Oxford, yes I enrolled without telling you, yes I already bought my flat, and yes I told everyone before letting you know because I wanted to hurt you Lydia. Just like you’ve hurt me too.” He’s breathless by the end of his rant and they both stare at one another. A mix of sadness and anger in both of their eyes with the unfornate little mix of love.

“Jackson, you did all of that to hurt me this bad just because you’re jealous over an ex?” Lydia’s in disbelief because Jackson has never shown jealousy over her past relationship.

“An ex you’re still in love with! An ex who you wish was going to Boston with you instead of me! You wish she was still your little girlfriend to show off, and I can’t be that, Lydia! I’m not Cora, I’m not your first love, your first time, your,” he frowns, “your everything.”

“Jackson that doesn’t matter now! Yes, I did love Cora, and yes we have a lot of history, but I love you now.” She whispers and he laughs right in her face.

“That’s not true, Lyds and we know it. I’m sure you have some type of love for me after almost two years, but you don’t love me. Not in the way that you want to. Not in the way that you love her.”

Lydia starts to sobs and rests her head against the steering wheel to cry. Her head hurts, she’s anxious and she wants to scream so badly right now. She just wants to get out of the car and scream so loud that all the birds in the area fly away and leave her lonely with nothing but the echoes of her pain. She feels Jackson rub his hands along her back and starts crying harder, reaching for his free hand.

“So what now, huh?” She rises, wiping hard at her face and leaning against the seat. Jackson has tears in his eyes, which makes Lydia cry harder because she’s only ever seen him cry one time before this. It when he cheated for the second time. She was screaming at him as he held her tight in his arms, allowing her to hit her hands against his chest. He was crying, kissing her hair and whispering how deeply sorry he was and how much he loved her. When Lydia saw the tears and the intensity in his eyes she immediately started to forgive him. This time?

“We’re going to break up.” Jackson breathes. He reaches out to hold her cheek and she leans into the touch, kissing the inside of his palm.

“I made the decision to apply for Oxford after you forced your plans onto me. As soon as you got into MIT, you came to my house with your grand plan and you decided that I would go to Harvard, and we’d get a brownstone in the city, so that we could be the domesticated and “perfect” couple that you’ve always wanted us to be. You knew that I never wanted to go to Harvard, that I never wanted to live in fucking Massachusetts, but you forced the plan onto me anyway because it was what you wanted. I was angry, I was stupid and I should have talked to you first. It wasn’t until after I sent in the application that I realized how much I really wanted to go there. Then, I got in and I knew there was no way I could turn this down. I’m sorry, Lyds, I really am. But I really think we need to break up. We’re unhealthy, and it’s going to be toxic to carry this relationship into adulthood.” He leans forward to wipe her tears and kisses her nose.

“I do love you, Jackson. I need you to know that.” She whispers.

Jackson smiles, “Not enough.”

They sit there silently in the car for almost an hour, and Lydia swears she can already feel them slipping away from each other. Finally, she pats her eyes, fixes her hair and starts the car.

“Let’s go.”

~

To Stiles:  
<Jackson and I finally talked. He made mistakes, I made mistakes too, we cried, we broke up, went to my house to have sex, then I dropped him off at his house. Now, I’m home alone, single and sad.

From Stiles:  
>Woah. Coming over asap!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!! I tried to get it out as quickly as possible bc I know how annoying it is to wait forever for a chapter update! Let me know if you spot any grammar mistakes or anything bc I edit this myself and I might miss certain things! Chapter 5 should be out later on next week! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!! Xx.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter starts out based on Erica/Boyd then switches to Derek! Hope you guys enjoy!! Sorry for such a long wait for this chapter but midterms and the holidays are very busy! I hope you guys enjoy! 
> 
> If you spot any mistakes with grammar, punctuation or whatever then just comment and tell me so I can make those edits!

Erica dashes across the cold bathroom floor, throwing herself on her knees and quicking ducking her head into the toilet. She lets out her breakfast and last night’s dinner before wiping her mouth and leaning back against the wall. Boyd pokes his head in with a smile and chuckles when she gives him the finger.

”I’m a wolf, I should not be getting morning sickness!” She groans as he kneels down in front of her.

“It’s not morning sickness if it’s six at night.” Boyd says with a playful smirk.

She sticks her tongue out at him and he puts his hand on her stomach for comfort.

She sighs in relief, “I always hated throwing up.” Boyd kisses her forehead and lazily tickles her stomach before helping her off the ground. As Erica brushes her teeth he wraps his arms around her waist, burying his face in her neck.

“When are we going to tell the pack?” He whispers.

“Well it’s been about a month and two weeks so,” she wipes her mouth and spins to face him, “let’s tell them tonight. At dinner.” He nods and she kisses his cheek.

“We’re going to be parents.” They stare at each other for a bit before giggling and holding onto one another tightly. They’re at his parents house to spend a little time with them before going over to the pack house for the weekend.

“How do you think they’re gonna react when they find out Deaton and your family knew before them?” Erica asks playfully, knowing how guilty Boyd feels about that. He frowns, a very small, cute frown, and she kisses it away with a laugh.

They had an idea that she was pregnant while in bed one night and Boyd began to notice that her smell was different - sweeter. Two weeks later, Erica went to the doctors and confirmed it. Later that week, they told Boyd’s parents the news and went to Deaton later that day for anything to mask Erica’s scent because they weren’t ready to tell the Pack yet.

This was the first pack baby, so they needed to make sure they had everything in order before telling everyone else. They had to start over the apartment hunting process because with BabyWere on the way, they now needed a two bedroom apartment. Finals were approaching, and they were stressing Erica out, even if she never had to worry about her grades before, and so was prom and graduation. Things were going great, but moving way too quickly and Erica was terrified.

She never questioned how she got pregnant because her and Boyd were never shy about their sex life nor were they the “safest” when it came to protection. Somehow, before this, they had never even had a pregnancy scare, so they never cared to start using protection. They always talked about kids, they had even planned to start a family after she finished school, but now she’s eighteen and pregnant, so, yes, she’s scared shitless.

Boyd’s parents wished they would have waited longer to have kids, but there was no turning back what happened, and they were ultimately very happy. They loved Erica, and she loved them, so there weren’t any worries about them freaking out. Boyd’s mom was already picking out baby clothes with “my grandma bought me this!” writing on it, and Erica thought it was the cutest thing ever. So, Boyd’s family wasn’t an issue. Neither were the Pack, because they’ll all be ecstatic to welcome a new member to the Pack, especially Talia who has been hinting at her two oldest kids about her want for grandkids.

Now, the biggest issue in all of this is Erica’s overprotective, overbearing and hypochondriac parents. There are times when Erica gets so scared about telling her parents that she’d rather face off against another pack of rogue Alpha’s.

Her parents are the epitome of psychotic health nuts. They’ve eased down over the last couple of years, but can still go overboard sometimes. She really tries to take it easy on them sometimes because she knows it only comes from a place of utter love and concern, but sometimes they can drive her so crazy that she wants to yell in their face that she’s a wolf who won’t ever get sick again in her life. Erica’s epilepsy was nearly life-ending, so when she “miraculously” got better, they became crazy with making sure she stayed healthy. No matter how strong and mighty she is now, she’ll never be able to forget being on her last days, slowly and painfully slipping into death, no more than two years ago, before she met the angel that is Talia Hale.

—

“That wasn’t so bad, right?” The young nurse asks Erica as she puts a bandaid on her arm where she just got another shot. Erica shrugs and shuffles deeper into the hospital bed. The nurse checks her charts and her IV before calling the doctor in. The two professionals are whispering, the nurse is telling the doctor about Erica’s recent activity as he listens with a frown. He sighs, rubbing his temples and she leaves as he pulls her parents aside. They look back at her and she turns her head to pretend like she won’t listen.

“Mr. and Mrs. Reyes, I’m being completely honest with you when I say that things aren’t looking good for your daughter. She’s getting worse every day and-“ Erica purposely coughs so that they can leave the room to continue to conversation. She hears the doctor offer they continue over coffee in the cafeteria, and, if Erica could, she’d jump in joy. She knows she’s near death, she knows that her parents are stressing over her health and the medical bills, and the last thing she needs is to hear them add another expensive medication to the bill in hopes of saving her life.

She’s only fifteen, but she’s always been extremely mature when it came to her sickness. When she once missed a month of school and was bedridden for a whole other month, she accepted that she’d never survive this sickness. Her parents were in utter and complete denial though. They began going to church at all times of the week when they weren’t hanging off of her hospital bed, and took out loans and another mortgage on the house just to pay for stupid pills and treatments that only helped Erica for months at a time. Erica’s mother had quit her job, and her father hardly got sleep from working ridiculous amount of hours and immediately running over to the hospital. Erica was going to die, and she knew it, but it still made her emotional. She was an only child, and she deeply worried for her parents because when she’s gone they’ll be utterly destroyed.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” Erica pops her head up in surprise at the foreign voice. She wipes her face and struggles to lean up forward in her bed. The woman rushes foward to help her and Erica allows herself to fall limp in her open arms.

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you.” The woman rests a pillow behind Erica’s back and eases her down. Erica watches her, she knows the woman isn’t a doctor or nurse because of her clothes, but she seemed very familiar.

“I’m Talia Hale.” She holds her hand out and Erica hesistantly shakes it, “Erica Reyes.” Her throat aches when she talks, one of the many side effects of her new treatment.

She pulls a chair closer the Erica’s bed and sits, “You were crying when I got in here.”

Erica nods, “Yeah .. all these medications have my hormones all over the place and make me emotional. I hate crying.”

Talia chuckles, “My husband was a big cry baby. He cried when we moved in together, when all three of our children were born, when our children took their first steps, when animals die in movies, and so much more.” Erica giggles along with Talia and leans her head back onto the bed.

“I’ve never really been too fond of crying either though ... messes with my makeup.” Talia says, making Erica laugh

“I’ll never wear makeup. My mom thinks the fumes or whatever would mess with my medication which would then mess with my immune system .. as if my immune system wasn’t already useless.” Erica’s voice cracks towards the end and she begins to feel embarrassed, but Talia doesn’t even mention or pay it any extra attention.

She shrugs, “I’m trying to think of some motherly advice, but I have no idea what either of you are going through. I never got sick as a child, and neither has my children.”

“Never?? Not even when they were toddlers?” Talia shakes her head, smiling at the girl’s shocked expression. They’re quiet for a bit before Erica tilts her head to the side and gasps, “Hale! From the Hale family fire!”

Talia nods, “Yeah .. we’re something of a celebrity around here, huh?” She jokes and Erica begins to feel bad, “Sorry. I hate being treated differently over my illness and I just did that to you over being a Hale.”

Talia shrugs her shoulders, “You get used to it.”

“Epilepsy. I have epilepsy.” Talia raises her eyebrows in interest, “I was diagnosed when I was nine. Since then, I’ve been in and out of hospitals, doctors offices, specialty labs, emergency rooms and operating tables.”

Talia reaches for her hand and Erica lets her hold it. “I take it that things haven’t been looking too good,” Talia says.

Erica nods, “My parents blow through their savings and bank accounts for all these fancy shmany medications, yet every year I get worse.” Talia notices how tense Erica gets, so she lightly squeezes her hand which relaxes her some.

“I’m not getting any better, I’ll never get any better, and I’ll be dead by the time I’m eighteen.” Erica admits and shudders at the feeling of the goosebumps on her skin.

Talia smiles, “Do you want to live, Erica?” Erica gives her a dumb look, “What kind of question is that? Of course I want to live! Just ... not like this.” She waves her hand around the room that’s packed tight with machines and wires.

“What’s five things you want out of life?” Erica’s quiet as she thinks hard, wondering how a question that seems so simple can be so tough.

“I want friends; people never wanted to be friends with the dying girl, they said I was “too depressing”. I want to graduate high school with my friends. I want to go to prom with a boy who loves me. I want to get married and have babies. And .. and I want to take all this stress off of my parent’s backs.” She’s tearing up by the end and Talia reaches out to wipe her cheek.

She clears her throat, “What if I told you I could give you all of that?” Erica doesn’t have time to voice her confusion before her parents come bursting into her room with her doctor following behind them.

“What are you doing in here??” Her mother asks accusingly, rushing over to Erica’s side.

“Oh! Mr. and Mrs. Reyes, this is Talia Hale. She’s one of our top donors who recently gave a very generous boost to the pediatrics building.” Erica smiles when she sees her parents relax and introduce themselves to Talia. They all talk for a bit, before Talia looks down at her, goes in for a hug and whispers, “Don’t give up. I’ll be back in the morning.”

That night Erica stays up longer than usual thinking about Talia and the mysterious Hale family. Every small town has a legend, a story that follows a specific family around like a shadow and is always retold. In Beacon Hills, their legend is the Hales. Everyone knows of the horrible fire that was set by the uncle’s psychotic girlfriend, Kate Argent. Everyone whispers about how Peter almost lost his mind when his brother died, how he went crazy with revenge. Then, years after the fire, the body of Kate Argent was found outside the sheriff station’s doors with her throat slashed and her body dissected. The police investigated Peter Hale for all of three weeks, because, come on, who wants to accuse a grieving man of murdering the sociopathic woman who killed his brother?

The Hale kids float around town paying no mind to anyone who stares or whispers about them. They know all the rumors - that they’re spies, lunatics, murderers and, Erica’s even heard the “vampires” rumor. They don’t care though. They’re the richest family in town, the Whittemore’s coming in second and the Martin’s third. Everyone gossips about, yet there’s that everlasting and strong sense of respect towards the Hales.

Talia so horribly lost her husband, yet she’s always out and about town spreading nothing but love. She starts foundations, donates to charities, helps to rebuild the schools and she dedicated her life and family name to The Preserve. Everyone loves Talia, it’s very hard not to, but they all still want just one night of being a fly on the wall in their mansion on the hill.

Erica spends the rest of the night thinking of the Hale family. She thinks about how the whole family is always at every school function, loudly and obnoxiously cheering the others on. She thinks about how they were able to move past a tragedy and continue on as a functioning family, and Erica can’t help but want that.

The next day, Talia pops into her room as promised when her parents are having a meeting with doctors about a new up and coming drug. She closes the door and stands at the side of the girl’s bed.

“I take it you’re a very straighforward person, Erica, so I’ll get straight to the point with you.” Talia flashes her eyes at the girl and slightly shows her her teeth. Erica’s stunned motionless before her heart monitor starts to go off and Talia has to spring into action. She grabs the young girl’s frail hand and squeezes comfortingly, smiling down at her.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Erica’s breathing starts to slow and she moves her hand out of Talia’s.

“What the hell??” She’s trying to yell, but her sore throat just isn’t allowing it.

Talia sits down on the edge of the bed and says, “I’m a werewolf.” Her voice unwavering. She let Erica stare and touch her in her shifted form because she really needed the girl to understand that this was real.

“What the hell,” She breathes

”What does this have to do with my sickness?”

Talia smiled, “I see something in you Erica. Something that I can’t just let die out. I’m offering you the bite to turn you like me and my family. Werewolves are immune from disease, so if I turn you, then this,” Talia points to the IV and the heart moniter and the bed pan, “this will all be gone.”

Erica scoffs, “Are you messing with me? Because this is not the type of thing to trick a dying girl with!” Erica was getting agitated, she felt like Talia was making a fool out of her and taking advantage of her will to live.

Erica was confused, unsure and furious, and Talia needed the girl to realize that she was being genuine; that she wanted to save her life. So, she held onto the girl’s vein littered hand and raised it to her mouth, giving it a small kiss as Erica gapes at the black veins going from her hand to Talia’s. Even as an Alpha wolf, Talia felt a little uneasy as Erica’s immense amount of pain transferred to her. Erica sighed, leaning back onto her pillows and closing her eyes in pure bliss.

“No bullshit.” Talia was serious, staring straight into Erica’s eyes in a way that just couldn’t be faked.

Erica smiled, “Ok.”

Talia couldn’t just outright give Erica the bite. The girl had had epilepsy for years, so if she just recovered in one day, then everyone would know something was up. She got the doctors to vouch their trust in Talia and got her parents to agree to let Erica out for the day, so that they could take care of everything. It worked out in their favor that Erica had just started a new treatment that was supposedly going to cure her of anything, so Talia went to Deaton who supplied them with a rare form of a witch’s spell that would have her heal and turn slower. That way, the bite wouldn’t register immediately and Erica would begin to heal slowly, making it seem like this medicine cured her. Talia knew that this would be extremely painful for Erica with her wolf wanting to fully come out for the first time, but the spell stopping it, but Erica was a fighter, she had been since she was nine years old.

They got to the Hale house, Erica was introduced to everyone and they all watched the turning process. Things were tough for a while. With the bite, her body was now aching to heal every and any issue, but the spell from Deaton was stopping that healing, so Erica was weaker than ever before. Talia was terrified, despite Deaton’s constant reassuring that everything would be fine. The Alpha couldn’t stop thinking that the bite didn’t take correctly and that she would’ve killed the young girl. By the end of the second month, Erica was beginning to heal enough that the hospital released her. She got back the color in her skin, was able to walk, and her hearing was getting better and better everyday. It took two more months for the girl to fully turn, and quickly, Talia saw how she had picked a perfect member for pack, and she hasn’t ever regretted it.

—

Erica knows that once her parents are assured that her pregnancy won’t make her health problems return that they’ll be excited to be grandparents. Erica was their only child, they tried a lot of times for another child, but it never worked out. So she knows they want grandchildren, but they’ll fear that a baby will weaken her immune system, and put her on another deathbed. She knows they’re going to freak out, and she knows to be calm when they drag her to her doctor’s office for an immediate checkup that’ll show them her perfect health - all thanks to Talia Hale and not those useless treatments.

“Come on, Slowpoke, let’s go.” Boyd has their bags in his hand, giving her the smile that’s only for her. Erica goes to give him a kiss on the cheek before moving out of the way and dashing out of the door

“Last one to the car is a rotten egg!” She yells, her giggling to infectious for him to stay serious.

From the car she hears him say, “You won’t be this fast when you’re waddling in four months!” And smiles down at her flat stomach.

By the time they get to the house everyone else is already there. She’s a little nervous because of how good Talia and Peter’s noses are, how likely they are to immediately sniff out their secret. She knows Talia will pretend she doesn’t know until Boyd and Erica make the announcement on their own, but Peter is a different story. He’s more likely make some snark comment that the others won’t catch onto until about five minutes later which will force Erica to finally tell them.

Boyd stops right before they open the door and grabs her hand, “It’s fine. They’ll be happy.” She stares into his eyes, finding all comfort and happiness in them.

As soon as they step in, Stiles is standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall, eyes closed, arms crossed and leg tapping. Both Erica and Boyd can smell the anger, irritation - and jealousy? - coming off of the boy.

“Stiles,” Erica speaks up, catching his attention. He blinks his eyes open at them and waves, “You okay?” She asks, resting her hands on his shoulder.

He shrugs his shoulders, “No.” And immediately walks off into the kitchen without another word. Boyd looks at her, his head cocked to the side very adorably, and she shrugs too, holding his hand as they walk into the dining room. Everyone’s already seated, talking to one another and greeting the couple without even looking up.

“Sorry we’re late.” Boyd says as Cora immediately starts digging in. Talia doesn’t make anyone eat if everyone isn’t present, and it’s the cutest thing ever, but everyone knows how Cora gets when she’s hungry.

“Was Boyd taking too long practicing his smolder in the mirror?” Jackson says, smirk on his face as he steals a sip of Laura’s wine. Boyd laughs, punching the boy’s arm and turning to tell him something. It’s still a little weird not seeing Jackson sitting right next to Lydia. She’s talking with Allison and Scott, and not even looking over at Jackson. Everyone knows the two obviously love one another, but sometimes, just because you love someone doesn’t mean you have to be with them. Erica notices how Stiles isn’t talking to anyone, not even Derek, and how he’s swiveling his fork around on his plate. She looks up and sees Derek staring at him, not eating his food either.

“Erica, are you okay?” Laura asks from across the table. Erica quickly looks up at her and smiles, “Yeah, I’m just not that hungry right now.” Boyd turns to her in worry, using his facial expression as words and moving his hand to inch closer to her stomach.

“Oh no, do you not like it? Do you want me to cook you up something else?” Talia asks, worriedly leaning upwards in her seat. She stills, cocks her head to the side and a slow grin spreads across her face. “Oh my,” Is all she says and Erica smells the tears brimming in her eyes. Talia has discovered their secret, as expected. Boyd chuckles squeezing Erica’s hand, and they look at each other, both smiling and ready to tell their family.

“Guys, Boyd and I-“

“Stop being a fucking brat!” Erica’s cut off by Derek’s loud, stern voice. Everyone startles, abandoning their conversations and watching as he hurriedly gets out of his chair, walks over to Stiles and grabs his hand.

“Let’s go.”

~

Stiles is embarrassed as he rushes ahead of Derek, and roughly opens the back door to try slamming it in the man’s face.

Derek slams the door and inches closer to Stiles; “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Stiles throws his hands up in the air, “Oh, please, Derek! You know what the issue is!” He yells.

“No, Stiles, I don’t. Enlighten me.” Derek leans against the bricks of the house, folding his hands and staring Stiles down.

“Don’t mock me, Derek!” He points his finger in the man’s face, “How do you expect me to react when I get here and see you coming out of his room and him hanging all over you?? This has been going on for way too long and this past month has driven me crazy! We hardly talk, we hardly see each other, you’re always with him and don’t give me that “he’s a new werewolf, Stiles” crap because I’m sick of hearing it and you aren’t the only one who can train him! He’s doing this on purpose and you’re falling for his shit!” Stiles is heated, his face is beet red and Derek can hear how quickly and uncontrollably his heart is beating.

“Stiles, first off, relax,” Derek says trying to ease the situation but this only makes Stiles more angry.

“Don’t fucking tell me to relax!”

“Stiles, come on, you’re overreacting! How do you expect me to not help train him?” He’s trying not to yell because he knows everyone can hear them and he doesn’t need things getting more out of hand that it already is.

“I never said that you can’t train him, Derek! But why do you have to shut me out for him?? How do you think that makes me feel?” Stiles lowers his voice and Derek takes note of that, easing closer and resting his hands on the boy’s shoulders.

“I am so sick of the two of you being in some silly and childish tug of war with me. Why can’t you understand that I want you, and that there is nothing there between Isaac and I.” Derek’s staring into his eyes trying his hardest to get this into Stiles’ head.

Stiles shakes his head and leans away from Derek. “Nothing there,” he chuckles and pushes at Derek’s chest.

“Then why can’t you tell him that, Derek!?You can’t possibly believe that he doesn’t have feelings for you! Why can’t you just tell him, Derek? For me! Just tell him what you just told me!”

Derek can see that Stiles is on the verge of tears and goes to hold him, but the boy quickly moves out of his reach. They’re quiet, neither of them knowing what quite to say, and Derek takes the time to listen in on the group inside the house. They’re silent, either trying to listen or too uncomfortable to say anything. Isaac’s in there, and it’s killing Derek to know that he can hear them right now. Hell, for how loud Stiles was yelling, Isaac probably would have heard them even without werewolf hearing. Stiles sighs and sits down on the bench and Derek follows him. He inches closer to him and runs his open hand all over the boy’s neck. He’s relieved when Stiles settles into his touch and Derek takes the opportunity to put his face in the space of Stiles’ neck.

He takes a moment to think then says, “How do you expect me to love you when you won’t let me?” The minute it leaves his mouth, Derek knows he’s made a mistake.

Stiles’ breath hitches and he feels all motion in the house stop. Derek feels Stiles trying to get away from him, so he quickly wraps his arms around the boy tightly. Stiles struggles to shake him off and groans, “Derek, please let me go!” He yells and hits the man’s chest. Derek reluctantly lets go and Stiles rushes to get off of the bench and put some distance between them. He paces around, running his hands through his hair and shaking his head, “I’m ... I have to leave.”

He watches Stiles enter the house in a hurry, and he runs after the boy, not caring that all eyes and ears are on them. Stiles is almost out the front door when he grabs his shoulder, pulling him to his chest.

“Stiles, come on, don’t leave. Please.” He’s peppering the boy’s face with kisses, running his hands in all the places that Stiles loves to try and get him to calm down and stay.

“You can’t just,” He pushes himself out of Derek’s grasp, resting his back against the door as the tears finally fall from his eyes, “you can’t just say that during the argument we’re having! You know exactly what’s stopping you from loving me and you know it’s not me! You think I like being jealous? You think I like fighting and arguing over you like a fucking child? You think I like feeling like a second priority??So, yes, I’m leaving because I just really can’t be around you right now.” Stiles flies the door open and runs down to his jeep. Even though Derek knows it’s coming, his heart sinks at the sound of Stiles sobbing.

“Fuck!” He slams the door shut with all his strength and anger and hits a vase on the He doesn’t even bother facing the rest of the pack in the dining room, so he just sulks up to his room, slamming his door shut to let them all know to not bother him.

He closes his eyes, suddenly exhausted.

“Shit.”

~

Derek’s been awake for about two hours now, laying in bed and listening to the pack try and talk about anything other than the show that he and Stiles put on. The house must have been too uncomfortable for them though because he heard when they all left, and headed outside in the backyard a little while ago.

He’s been beating himself up since he woke up because he really is a dumb ass for admitting his love to Stiles at such a horribly wrong time. Stiles’ and Isaac’s arguing always bothered him because, deep down, he really did know exactly why they couldn’t get along. But he never wanted to admit it, he always convinced himself that, maybe, they just really don’t get along for other reasons. He fucked up, he really did, and he made Stiles cry and lose his cool in front of everyone.

“Fuck.” He whispers before getting up, telling himself that a shower might help to fix things. He hears a heartbeat entering into the house, and listens as the person comes up the stairs and stands outside his door.

He sighs, “Mom, Laura or Cora, I don’t want to talk.” He says lowly, trying not to raise his voice and take his feelings out on them.

The door opens slowly, “It’s Isaac.”

Derek spins around from where he was taking his shirt off and faces the boy who’s shyly standing in the doorway. He remembers all the things Stiles said, and now being nearly naked around Isaac makes him feel weird. He puts his shirt back on and sits on the bed, silently waiting for whatever the boy has to say. Isaac quietly closes the door and sits on the bed next to him.

“Am I the cause of your breakup?” He asks, staring at Derek with wide eyes.

“Well, you can’t exactly call it a breakup if we weren’t really together in the first place.” Derek says sadly.

“Stiles sure thought you two were married or something.” Isaac says jokingly but Derek doesn’t even crack a smile. They’re silent now, and both utterly uncomfortable, but neither of them know what to say to the other.

Derek starts to think back to all the times Isaac would grab his hands around Stiles. All the times Isaac would come into the living room while he and Stiles were doing more kissing more than watching the movie they put. Or all the recent times when Derek would talk about his plans with Stiles, and Isaac would suddenly need extra help with how to correctly bite or something even if Peter had already shown him.

“Do you have feelings for me?” He bites the bullet and outright asks the boy because if he doesn’t do it now, he never will.

“Did you mean it when you said there’s nothing there between me and you?” The boy deflects the question with another one that leaves Derek stunned.

“I, uh,” Derek doesn’t know how to respond and Isaac just stares at him, flashes his bright yellow eyes, and the next thing Derek knows they’re kissing. He’s stuck, not fully registering what’s going on, but not kissing back, before he can roughly push Isaac away from him.

“Isaac what the fuck?” He wipes his mouth as he rushes off of the bed and backs away from the boy. Isaac’s smile falls from his face, and he’s staring up the Derek in horror.

“Oh gosh,” he puts his hand through his curls and groans.

Derek stalks over to his door and flings it open, not caring when it bangs against the wall. He punches the door, and flashes his blue eyes as he growls.

“Just get out.”

Isaac just stares at him, not even moving his feet. Derek bangs the door again in frustration and growls louder, “Now!”

He watches as Isaac goes from embarrassed and shocked to angry, “Don’t flash your eyes at me like I’m some enemy, Derek! What are you going to do? Kill me too?”

Derek’s mouth goes dry. Everyone knows how sensitive a topic this is to him, so they all avoid it like the plague. He’d never expect Isaac of all people to throw that in his face. The older wolf loses his cool and shifts into his beta form as he grabs Isaac by the neck and slams him up against the wall before he can apologize. Isaac gasps in either surprise or pain, maybe both, but Derek doesn’t care right now.

“Don’t you ever fucking bring that up again.” He snarls, baring his teeth.

Isaac groans, trying to wriggle his body out of Derek’s tight grip, “Let me go!” He screams, throwing his hand up quick enough to scratch the man’s arm. Derek doesn’t even flinch, just stares into the boy’s eyes with pure fury.

“You’re crazy! You’re fucking crazy! No wonder Stiles ran away from you!” Derek leans back, raising his fist, but before it can connect with the boy’s face he feels himself being dragged away. There’s yelling and hands flying everywhere as both boys try lunging for one another with Boyd and Jackson holding him back as Scott grips onto Isaac.

“You’re a fucking monster, Derek! Look at you! You’re crazy!” Isaac’s screaming, tears streaming down his face as the rest of the house makes it upstairs. Talia barges into the room with the girls and Peter following behind her in a hurry. Laura and Cora run over, pushes Boyd and Jackson away from their brother and they both hug onto his side, holding him tight and instantly beginning to calm him down some.

“I’m crazy?? It’s not my fault that you can’t take rejection, Isaac!” Derek yells back.

Isaac’s still crying, “You think you played no parts in this, Derek? You strung me along for months! Letting me hold your hand, hugging me, comforting me, sharing a bed with me! All of that, and you don’t expect me to fall for you? But you’re so wrapped up in Stiles, so you let me continue to feel all these things for you just in case he didn’t want to take things further!” He spits out, his voice cracking as he continues to cry.

“Oh, get a fucking grip,” Derek breathes out, settling into Cora’s hold.

“Admit it, Derek. I was second choice, a backup, so when little perfect Stiles broke things off you’d have someone else to stick your dick in.” Scott sighs and holds Isaac tighter to his chest.

“Isaac!” Talia barks, the anger very clear in her face and voice, “Whatever is going on, I need you two to calm down, and stop throwing hurtful remarks at one another.” She goes to purposely stand in the middle of them, knowing they’ll both stop wanting to rip each other’s throats out if their mother is in the middle.

“Isaac, we heard what you said and you know better than to bring Derek’s accident up.” She’s obviously disappointed in him and Derek sees Isaac frown before he perks up again and scoffs.

“Derek’s accident? He’s the one that tore that innocent little boy’s throat out.” Isaac stares right at Derek with a smirk as he says this.

“Hey! Stop it.” Laura yells, stepping forward and standing in front of Derek, like she’s trying to protect him from Isaac’s words.

“That’s a fucking low blow and we all know it because we all, especially me, know what really happened that night! You guys’ issue has nothing to do with that. Leave it out of it and stop.” Her voice is hard and everyone listens since she’s also had to deal with the aftermath and the pain from that night.

“Seriously, dude, that’s not cool.” Scotts says.

Isaac looks around the room at all of them and laughs, “Now I’m the bad guy? Not the guy who’s the cause of every argument that’s happened today? Not the guy who slammed me against a wall, ran the supposed “love of his life” away, and was using me?” He pushes Scott away from him and steps closer.

“Of course, you’re all taking his side. I’m the orphan, I’m the lost cause with the abusive dad and the ptsd! I’m the weakest link who got the bite out of pity, and, oh gosh, everyone loves Stiles! Stiles is so funny and cute and charming and fun and sarcastic! Stiles is the best! So, you all pick Derek and Stiles’ side because they’re the perfect match with the fairytale ending!” Talia attempts to hug him but he swiftly moves out of her way, not caring how sad she looks.

“I fucking hate you.” He stares directly at Derek as he voices what must be his raw and real emotions. His face is red and blotchy from crying and no one knows what to say.

“And I don’t love you.” Derek says strongly, voice unwavering.

Isaac storms out of the room and they all flinch from how hard the front door slams. Cora finally lets go of Derek and sighs as she leans onto Peter’s, who’s been uncharacteristically quiet during all of this, shoulder.

“Today has been so fucking crazy. So crazy, that I’m not even scared to say “fucking” since it’s been said so much!” Jackson hides his laugh and drags Boyd and Scott out of the room, the three of them all rubbing Derek’s shoulder on the way out.

Peter leaves too after sighing and shaking his head in confusion, then Derek’s left alone in the room with all the girls.

“Gosh,” Laura closes the door and goes to sit with him on the bed. Talia stressfully runs her hand through her waist-length hair and sits on Derek’s other side.

“Where do I even start?” She sighs, grabbing his hand and rubbing it gently.

“I’m so sorry, mom. These weekends are supposed to be fun, but I’ve just started endless fights.” He looks at all of them, silently asking for forgiveness.

“Derek, baby, you need to get this sorted.”

“I know mom, I do, it’s just that Stiles and I-“

Lydia scoffs, “Are idiots who just need to sit down and talk about your feelings?”

“Exactly.” Cora adds on. Everyone in the room gives them the same look because, come on, these two? Telling people they just need to talk things out? Hilariously ironic.

Derek huffs, “I just .. it scares me thinking that one day he’ll decide that he doesn’t want me anymore. He’s only eighteen, he has college ahead of him and one day he might realize that he really doesn’t want to be with me. Then, I’d have spent all that time loving him just to end up alone.”

Derek sighs and groans at the same time, “So, yeah, I admit that I did play a part in why Isaac developed such serious feelings for me. I recognized his feelings quite a bit ago, but I never put a stop to it because, you know, Stiles might walk out on me one day and I don’t want to be .. lonely. It’s fucked up, I know, and I need to apologize to him, but,” Derek sighs again and rests his head on Laura’s shoulder.

“I don’t love him. And I don’t like him, not in a romantic way.”

“So what do you want Derek?” Allison asks, stepping closer with a frown.

“How did you all know when you were truly in love?” He asks before giving her his answer.

Erica chuckles before speaking up, “I always say that it was when Boyd and I had sex for the first time, but it’s really not. It was when I had just gotten the bite, and I was the weakest I’d ever been. One day, I was in bed at my parent’s house, sweating, pale and practically dead and Boyd snuck into my window .. guess he took a note from Derek’s book,” They all laugh, even Derek, and Erica gives herself a mental pat on the back for making Derek smile at a time like this.

“He came and he sat on the edge of my bed, grabbed my hand, and took almost all my pain with ease. And trust me, I was ready to pass out at any moment from how much I was hurting that day. All I could say was “you’re so strong’, “ Erica smiles and puts her hand on her stomach, “and he smiled and said “you’re stronger than I’ll ever be.“ Everyone could feel the happiness radiating from Erica as she retold the story of her and Boyd.

Allison clears her throat, “It was when I went to one of Scott’s lacrosse games after we were dating for a month or so. He was playing, using the new confidence that being a werewolf gave him, and I came late due to a family thing so my emotions were all over the place and Scott must have felt it. So, he stopped right in the middle of a play, looked over to me, called a timeout, and ran over to make sure I was okay. The way he hugged me, kissed my cheeks, and rubbed his hands over me made me realize that he loved me and that I loved him. It sucked watching the boy you love get torn apart by Finstock for calling that time out!”

“My first love was in high school - Alex Krater. He was my first .. everything and I was ready to be Mrs. Laura Hale-Krater. Then he cheated on me, so yeah .. but I lucked out because “Hale-Krater” really is just so ugly and unfortunate.

They all laugh, and she mumbles, “I’m seeing someone now,”

“And his name rhymes with Lordan Harrish!” Cora yells, as the rest of them screw their faces up in surprise and confusion.

“Anyway, we’re taking things slow, so who knows where it’ll go. Maybe one day, I will love him.”

Erica screams, “Jordan Parrish?? The cop? The Hellhound! Oh my gosh, Laura! He is such a score!” Laura’s so immersed in her job and the pack that she never really bothers with boyfriends. Though, everyone had a feeling that she was seeing someone with how obsessed she’s been lately with her phone.

“I knew I loved you when we broke up.” Cora says loudly, staring directly at Lydia, “Only three days later to be exact. But you move quick,” Cora chuckles, “I got to your house to say I was sorry and to try get back together, but you were making out with one of those weird twins.” Cora’s tone gets very bitter as she mentions Lydia’s little stint with Ethan after their official break up.

Everyone stares at Lydia, waiting for a response. She rolls her eyes at her ex-girlfriend and says, “I knew I loved Jackson after the first time he cheated on me.”

They’re all confused because it’s a shock that that Lydia, who has a very low tolerance for bullshit, began to love Jackson after he hurt her.

“I know it sounds stupid, but when he cheated, I was so angry that I wanted to scream strong enough to hurt him. Then, he apologized and we cried and as I rest my head on his chest, I realized that I didn’t want to break up with him. I didn’t want to stop being with him at all, despite him hurting me. I knew that I loved him enough to try again. Of course, he made me feel stupid when he cheated again, but it was my love for him that allowed me to forgive him both times.” She glances over at Cora and the two hold eye contact for a bit before turning away.

“So it took him cheating on you to realize you loved him? I don’t quite think that’s healthy.” Cora speaks up.

Lydia groans, “And it took me leaving you for you to realize that you loved me? I don’t exactly think that was healthy either, Cora.” She bites back, her voice strained.

Talia sighs, “It was our second date. Robert tried to woo me with his wealth and bought out a rooftop restaurant and flew in some fancy shmancy chef from France. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous and I let him know that and he got so flustered and cute. I saw how much effort he put in, how much he wanted to please me, even if all that extravagance isn’t exactly my cup of tea, and I realized that I loved him.”

Everyone’s silent, relishing in the memories they all spilled, both happy and sad. Their stories helped Derek a bit, but he was still torn inside. He loves Stiles, he really does, but it’s hard to believe that Stiles actually loves him back. Especially after tonight and how the boy dashed out of the house in a hurry when Derek said what he did.

“Derek, everyone’s story is different and everyone realizes their love at different times. If you really love stiles then you need to tell him now. Because all of this is just pushing him away.” Talia runs her hand through her son’s hair and kisses his shoulder.

Derek sighs, “The prom is in two weeks.”  
He states, not asking, but they all nod an answer anyway.

“I can’t make him be sad at the prom all because his boyf- ... I don’t even know if I’m his boyfriend,” He groans, throwing himself back onto the bed

Talia lays her face down onto his chest, the love she holds for him so evident and pure, “It’s okay, baby. It’ll all work out.”

“I can’t have him go to prom alone, watching everyone be happy and in love. Things aren’t good right now, but I have to be there for his prom and his graduation. I need him to be happy even if he isn’t happy with me.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys loved this chapter! There’s only going to be two more chapters left, and I haven’t decided if the last chapter will be or include an epilogue. But next chapter will be strictly Stiles/Derek/Isaac based and hopefully out sooner than this chapter was! Xx.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was initially planned to be longer, and wrap up somethings to prepare for the epilogue, but I realized that that would take too long and I hate making readers wait too long for an update! So, next chapter will clear up some things then there will be a chapter eight (epilogue)!

Stiles tries his best to calm himself down before going inside. Both his dad and Melissa are home tonight; both taking the night off every Friday for a date night. They said it was a way to relax and fall in love with another again every week without two rambunctious boys running around. Stiles hates that he’s going to interrupt them, but he just really couldn’t stay anywhere near Derek or Isaac right now. He looks in his mirror to wipe at his face and his eyes, ruffles his hair and drinks some water to refresh before hopping out of the Jeep.

He tries to be as quiet as possible as he enters. Quickly depositing his keys in his pocket and sneaking up the stairs, making sure the skip the fourth one that just won’t stop creaking no matter how much his dad “fixes it”. He’s almost made it up when he hear’s knocking on the wall from behind him. He hangs his head in defeat and sighs before slowly turning around like a teen caught sneaking out.

His dad cocks an eyebrow, “What ya doing home, Kiddo?” He asks, hands on his hip. Stiles would usually have some snarky comment to make about his dad’s dorky chef’s hat, but his mind and emotions are in shambles right now. Thankfully, Melissa pokes her head around the corner and smiles at him.

“Stiles! What are you doing home? Isn’t it “Weekend with the Wolves”?” She latches onto John’s shoulder and continues to smile as they both rack their eyes up and down his body. He knows what they’re doing - playing good cop, Melissa, and bad cop, his father to try and get the reason why he’s home out of him because they know he won’t outright say it if he’s too upset.

“I, uh, I wasn’t feeling too well and I didn’t want to ruin everyone’s weekend from being all stuffy and sick.” He fakes a cough and his dad smirks, knowing that this is all a lie.

“Uh huh .. couldn’t Talia and Lydia just give you some wolfy-witchy medicine to cure that all up?” John asks, still smirking at his son.

“Umm, yeah usually they would but, like, it all ran out, you know? But don’t let me ruin your night! I’ll just be in my room sleeping this fever off! Bye!” He runs off to his room before they can interrogate him some more because he knows they won’t stop until he spilled the truth.

Even with a human nose, Stiles can register how much his room smells like Derek and he groans, flopping himself down onto his bed which doesn’t help either when he lands on Derek’s favorite pillow. He doesn’t want to admit how comforting it is to smell the man because of how pissed he is, but it really is soothing to know that he’s there without physically being there.

He absolutely hates fighting with Derek. It’s something they hardly did until he and Isaac decided to both fall for the annoyingly oblivious and gorgeous man. Fighting just drove them farther apart from where they wanted and needed to be. It pushed them away from being able to comfortably hold hands and Derek wrapping his arms around the boy’s waist in front of others, from becoming an actual couple, from Derek claiming Stiles as his one and only Mate, and from them being able to be in love.

Stiles wanted all of that. He wanted to scream from the highest building in the world that Derek Hale was his boyfriend and love of his life, and at one point it seemed like Derek wanted that too. Stiles wants to love Derek, and he wants to tell him about NYU. He wants to walk the streets of Manhattan. He wants to look for studio apartments, he wishes for picnics in Central Park in the Spring time when it’s breezy and dogs are saying hello to everyone. He wants to open his windows to listen to the constant buzz and honk of the New York streets as he studies for some ridiculous class. But he doesn’t want to do any of that alone. He wants to do all of this with his overprotective, brooding, corny joke telling and beautiful boyfriend, but how do you propose all of this to someone who really isn’t even your boyfriend?

He sinks his face deeper into the flattening pillow and sighs. “Fuck.”

~

Stiles isn’t sure what time it is when he wakes up because of the familiar movement on his bed. He hides his smile at the feeling of Derek because their argument isn’t over yet, and he needs to keep up with his angry front. Derek makes that hard, though, when he wraps his arm around the boy’s waist, pulling him close to his chest that’s always warm and wide enough for Stiles to perfectly rest his head on it.

“I didn’t invite you.” Stiles huffs, not opening his eyes because he knows the minute he sees his face he’ll submit.

Derek chuckles, and Stiles smiles, a very small and not obvious at all smile, at the hum in his chest. “Yeah? Then why didn’t you close the window?”

Stiles shrugs, “That latch has been broken for years.” Derek laughs again and rests his cheek on the boy’s hair. They stay quiet, resonating in the other’s touch and presence before ruining it with the talk they need to have. They both listen to the Sheriff and Melissa downstairs. Stiles’ father laughing uncontrollably to whatever Melissa is saying or doing and it fills the boy with so much happiness because Melissa is the only woman who could make his father that happy other than Claudia.

“You ready to talk about it?” Stiles asks. Derek leans away to give the boy some space to look up at him.

“Isaac kissed me,” He spits out, staring Stiles directly in his eyes.

Stiles shakes his head and stares back at Derek with a look that screams “I told you so”.

“It was after you left. He caught me by surprise, but I didn’t kiss back and pushed him away as soon as I realized what was going on.” Stiles scoots away from Derek and sighs.

“Sometimes I really hate being right,” He says, and Derek gazes up at him, not really knowing what to say.

“There was a huge fight after you left between me and Isaac ... and it got physical.” He hears Stiles’ heartbeat spike and he reaches out to touch his arms.

“Isaac said some things and so did I and he blew up on everyone and stormed out, but before I came here I smelt him in the backyard with Erica and mom, so he’s okay.” Stiles is speechless, equally stuck on the parts that things got violent between Derek and Isaac, and that he caused this.

He jumps out of bed and begins pacing around stressfully. “Oh gosh. If I wasn’t being so jealous and childish then none of this would have happened. This is all my fault!”

Derek chases after the boy and wraps his arms around him, holding him tight to his own body. “No, no, that’s not true. You have every right to be jealous and upset. Isaac kissed me and he has feelings for me and he tried causing a rift between us, but that’s not his fault. And it definitely isn’t your fault,”

Stiles looks up at him, “Then whose fault is it?”

“It’s mine. I led him on.” Derek nods, giving Stiles his absolute attention.

“You what?”

“I ... I, shit,” Derek sighs and runs his hands through his hair. “I led him on. I knew he had feelings for me and I just .. let it happen? I didn’t sit him down and let him know that I didn’t feel for him like that because I ..,” Derek stalls, opening and closing his mouth in search of the right words.

Stiles steps back and it’s easy to tell that he’s beginning to get agitated. “Because you what, Derek?”

“Because I was scared! I thought, and I still think, that you’ll up and forget about me one day! So, I let Isaac develop feelings for me in case you called things off one day.” Derek slumps his body, as if letting this out took a huge weight off his shoulder and stares guiltily at the wide-eyed boy in front of him.

“So, you made me seem like a psychotic, jealous and low self esteemed asshole whenever I brought up Isaac’s behavior, and the whole time you knew? You knew that I was right, that I wasn’t just making things up, yet you acted oblivious??” Stiles points and jabs his finger into the man’s chest as he talks.

“I’m so sorry, gosh, I can’t even .. ugh! I’m so stupid, fuck, I’m so sorry Stiles.” Derek groans and he flops back down onto Stiles’ bed.

“Why did you think I’d up and leave you?” He asks, looking down at the man.

“I’m almost 25, still living at home with my mother, scared of intimacy and love because I saw what it did to Peter and I’m terrified of death. I have a teaching degree that I’m scared to put to use, and I can’t even explain why. I’ve .. killed an innocent,” He flashes his cold, blue eyes, as if he’s actually trying to push Stiles away.

“You’re eighteen, Stiles. You have college and marriage and a house and kids and a Sergeant Detective dream to come. You have your whole life ahead of you.”

“What if I want you in it?” Stiles whispers, walking forward to sit next to Derek.

“I’m so pissed at you. You can’t play with someone’s heart just to have them as a backup, Derek. That’s so fucked up, and now I feel bad for being angry with him.” Stiles drops his head onto Derek’s shoulder and closes his eyes in comfort when he feels the man begin to sniff his hair.

“I know. I just need to make sure that we’re okay before I go and beg for his forgiveness.” Stiles shrugs, opening his eyes to look up at the man who admitted to loving him earlier that night. He nods his head quickly before planting a kiss on his neck.

Stiles kisses his way up Derek’s neck, just the way he likes it, and he sighs in relief when Derek grabs onto him and they both fall back onto the bed. They begin to kiss erratically, mouths, lips and tongues going everywhere with small moans and whines. Derek’s wolf is eager, happy to be with its mate after everything that’s went on. Stiles has his hands in Derek’s hair, sliding his hands down his broad back and lean torso. Derek nips at his jaw and kisses and licks at the spot until Stiles whines from underneath him.

“Oh gosh, we’re gonna be one of those couples who stops mid-argument to have sex, huh?” He says in between needy kisses. Derek huffs and quickly yanks Stiles’ shirt off. “I thought the argument was over?”

Stiles stops kissing him, pushes at Derek’s chest so they can correctly look one another in the eye. Derek smiles and blows him a kiss, and Stiles hates how easily he forgives this man, but, gosh, he just can’t help himself.

“Huh .. guess it is.” He smiles.

“I’m so sor-“

“Stop apologizing, I forgive you! Shut up and kiss me.” Stiles latches his mouth back on Derek’s and moans when the man presses him into the mattress. The shirtless boy takes his time moving his fingers all over Derek’s chest before starting to unbutton and unzip his jeans. Derek throws his own shirt over his head before quickly getting off of the bed to fully take his jeans off.

He’s back on top of Stiles in less than a minute, immediately starting to kiss him again as he slips his fingers into the waistband of his underwear. Stiles moans at the faint touch and Derek slowly works him up. Peppering him with kisses and little bites as he works his hands up and down his mate’s shaft. He’s nibbling on his ear, turning him on and easing him down at the same time with his soothing words.

“I’m so sorry for everything.” Kiss.

Bite: “You, all I want is you. Only you.” Stiles groans, bucking his hips up and down, chasing Derek’s mouth with his own.

Lick: “I only want to please you. You’re mine, and I’m yours.” Stiles comes with a choked moan, writhing underneath Derek’s bigger body and going slack. Derek watches him, eyes closed in bliss and his hair a mess as he comes down from his high with a smile. Derek passes his fingers over the boy’s face in equal wonder and love, curious as to how he got so lucky with someone so beautiful inside and out.

Stiles slowly opens his eyes and lazily leans up to kiss Derek’s jaw, quickly nipping at him in revenge for the bite marks he now has all over his body.

They stare into each other’s eyes before a sudden surge of strength enables Stiles to flip Derek over so he’s now the one on his back. Stiles sits on his lap, leaning down to kiss his way down to the top of his briefs. He faintly drags his fingers along the patch of hair that Derek has leading down to his crotch and watches in joy as Derek jerks and winces.

“So easy to turn you on.” Stiles whispers, pulling down Derek’s briefs before shimmying down so he’s face to face with his dick. He’s still hard from their earlier activities, so he doesn’t waste time to put the man in his mouth, watching as Derek sighs in relief and moans deep in his throat. No more than three minutes later, Derek’s hand is gripping tightly onto Stiles’ hair, freely moving the boy’s head to his own appeal. Stiles hums, knowing how much that drives Derek crazy, and runs his hands up and down his naked hips and torso. Derek’s a mess, twisting and turning, whining and moaning before he finally reaches climax. They lock eyes the entire time, Derek’s eyes glowing a bright, striking blue, and Stiles listens as his claws rip at his brand new sheets; already wishing himself good luck to explain to his dad and Melissa why he needs new sheets again - this is what he gets for falling for a horny werewolf.

Derek breathes heavy as he comes down, gently reaching down to drag Stiles up to him. They share a steamy kiss, licking into the other’s mouth and moaning obnoxiously.

Stiles leans up to his ear, “Yours.”

~

“Ready?” Derek asks without looking up from his phone. He sent out a group text to let everyone know that he’s with Stiles and that things have calmed down. He purposely leaves Isaac out of the group chat, but they all assure him that the boy is fine for now, extremely quiet, but okay. He and Stiles woke up no more than an hour ago, both starving, so they decided to go out for breakfast instead of bothering Sheriff and Melissa.

>Erica: You didn’t come home last night ... make up sex? ;)

>Scott: Erica pls cut it out!

<Derek: Yes, please listen to Scott. Mind your business.

Derek puts his phone away after sending his last text and looks up to see Stiles smoothing the wrinkles on his shirt. He holds his hand out to help the wolf off of the bed and they walk downstairs, fingers linked, and are almost out of the door before Sheriff stops them.

“Not so quick, boys,” He puts a hand on the door, staring pointedly at the two of them.

“Good morning, Sheriff,” Derek coughs. “Stiles and I are just going out for some breakfast, so you and Melissa can continue your peaceful weekend.” Derek flashes that cheeky smile that he only brings out when he’s trying to charm and impress John, and Stiles has to stifle a laugh.

“Uh huh,” He eyes his son before looking down at their connected hands. “Everything .. alright?”

“Yes, dad, everything is fine.” Stiles says, using his other hand to pat his father’s shoulder.

“You know, it’s funny because when Stiles came home last night he was alone. Yet, here you are Derek, in the morning, coming out of my son’s bedroom. My son who now has a hickey and-“

“Leave them alone, John!” Melissa calls from the kitchen, momentarily shutting him up.

“I’d just like to know why Derek is so fond of my kid’s bedroom window.” Derek pales, coughs uncomfortably and Stiles laughs at his horror.

“See ya later, dad! Bye Mel!” He kisses his father’s cheek before dragging Derek out of the house and into the Jeep. He rubs Roscoe’s dashboard and steering wheel for good luck, sighing in relief when the engine starts and jets off down the street for the nearest diner.

They find a table by the window, instinctively locking feet as soon as they’re settled and looking at the menus.  
Derek watches Stiles over the steam of his hot chocolate and he can’t help but smile. He just feels so good right now. His wolf is preening at the sight of the marks he left on Stiles. How Stiles still smells like them, like the bed. He notices that Stiles’ lips are still bruised pink and red and, had they not been in public, he’d be ravishing again him right now.

“You’re staring all creepily again.” Stiles murmurs, taking another sip of his drink.

“I can’t help but admire you.” Derek shrugs, stealing a piece of the boy’s bacon. Stiles smirks and they continue to eat in a comfortable silence, constantly sneaking glances at the other.

“So, when’s prom,” Derek clears his throat, leaning more towards the boy.

“Two weeks. I already have my tux, you already have yours. I got our matching green ties because they bring both of our eyes out, and I’ll drive over to the house at 8:00 so that the whole pack can take pictures together!” Stiles lets out a deep breath when he finishes.

“Thank you, Adderall,” He says as he taps his forehead. Derek smiles, happy that the boy actually took the time to plan everything out, and not procrastinate like usual.

“I’m gonna seem so cool. Entering the prom with a hot piece of older man candy on my arms.” Stiles winks at him, trying to be sexy but just making the both of them loudly burst into laughter in the small and quiet diner filled with old folks.

“I didn’t go to my prom.” Derek admits when they quiet down, stealing another one of the boy’s bacon strips because he knows he can.

Stiles quirks up. “Yeah? Why not?”

Derek shrugs and reaches for his hand. “I broke up with my girlfriend at the time, Braeden, right before prom. I knew she was a hunter, and she knew we were wolves, but then I found out that she’d been working with the Argents.” Stiles tightens his hold on Derek’s hand, his eyes full with worry.

“Of course, we weren’t on good terms with the Argents yet. There was still a lot, too much, tension and hate. We knew that Chris knew where Kate was, but they wouldn’t tell us, and we continued to think that the rest of them had something to do with the fire.”

Stiles nods, “Thank goddess Peter got a witch to put a truth spell on that bitch to find out that she acted alone before he killed her. Allison wouldn’t even be pack if it weren’t for that.”

“Yeah, I know. But .. anyway, I felt betrayed and stupid for thinking that a hunter wouldn’t stick with their own, no matter the faults. So, I dumped her, harshly, and didn’t go to prom because I was heartbroken.”

They’re quiet, both thinking about what Derek just said and the events that would have followed if things went differently.

“What would’ve happened if you never broke up with her?” Stiles asks, glancing up at the man before him.

“Honestly?”

“Always.”

Derek cocks his head to side as he thinks of an answer before saying, “I’d be married to her. She’d be pack, would’ve gotten the bite, and there’d probably be a baby Hale on the way.”

Stiles gulps. “You loved her.” It’s not a question.

“Yes.”

“So, let’s say she pops back into town, I don’t know ... next month? What happens?” Derek hears Stiles’ heartbeat pick up, his nerves beginning to spiral.

“I apologize for saying she was complicit in the murder of my father.” Derek admits, with no sign or presence of a lie.

“You don’t go after her? Reclaim your love and begin again? I mean, she does seem to be the one that got away.”

Derek shakes his head, “No.”

Stiles eyes him, “And why not? You loved her.”

“Because I already have my Mate.”

Silence. Stiles stills, eyes bulging out of his head as he takes his hand out of Derek’s to reach for his almost empty cup.

“You love me,” He whispers, voice small.

“So much.” Derek breathes out with a smile.

Stiles sees Derek getting ready to lean over and kiss him, so he scoots his chair back and clears his throat.

“I got into NYU!” He screams out, scared that if he kissed Derek right now that he’d forget all about his future and want to stay in their quiet town for the rest of his life just to be around this man. He’s anxiously playing with his fingers as Derek’s loud silence eats him alive.

“Are you going to go?” He finally asks, settling back down into his seat.

“Yes.” Stiles whispers with his head down, too terrified to look up and face those sad, forest green eyes. Derek hooks his fingers under Stiles’ chin, causing them to make eye contact. Stiles frowns, his eyes glossy with tears and Derek kisses both of his hands with a genuine smile.

“Let’s get through you prom and graduation first, okay?”

~

Stiles can’t help looking up into his mirror every thirty seconds to make sure he looks okay. Melissa styled his hair all Gucci Men Summer/Spring Catalogue and he really does have to admit that he looks sexy. But Roscoe is currently lacking AC, so the windows are down and Stiles is terrified that his hair will mess up and blow out of place. He arrives to the house in record time, but he’s still running late, as usual, and everyone else is already in the front waiting for him.

“I’m here, I’m here!” He yells as he rushes out of the Jeep - mentally patting himself on the back for avoiding tripping over his feet - and over to the group who are all staring at him unamused.

“Of all the days to be late, Stiles, it had to be today. If my hair gets frizzy, I will get past scary Mate over there and strangle you.” Lydia says, smiling, but Stiles knows that she isn’t joking. He kisses her cheek, and goes to hug everyone else - except Isaac of course who’s leaning against the wall off the house with his arms folded.

It’s been two weeks since the events of that weekend, but tensions are still high. Isaac’s still only giving Stiles and Derek the cold shoulder and the silence treatment, while talking to everyone else. Stiles would usually be upset that someone is so mad at him, but after hearing the details of his and Derek’s argument, he isn’t exactly so keen to talk to the boy either. He might have been furious at Derek that night, but nothing calls for bringing up the things that Isaac did. Nothing.

Derek comes over to him, holding his hands out for Stiles to walk into them. He hums at the warmth and smell of the man and playfully leans up to bite his cheek. He can practically feel the glare on the back of his head coming from the angry blonde near them, but he can’t bother to care right now when their matching green ties really are bringing out Derek’s eyes.

“Ok, ok, pictures!” Talia calls as she runs out of the house with her fancy camera - every year she buys a new one, swearing that the old one didn’t take good enough pictures. No one in the pack can go a minute without hearing the sound of a camera going off and Talia disappearing to take more or get them printed and framed. It’s heartwarmingly beautiful how she has pictures of everyone around the house and how much she loves all eleven of her troublesome children.

“Couples shots first!” Allison yells and she grabs Scott’s hand.

The brunette is wearing a long light green dress. There’s lace and flowers in certain places and even a leg split - which Scott is very enamored with - with her hair pulled to the side which really shows off her strong facial features. Scott’s in a tight fitting suit with a matching light green tie and Stiles would accuse them of copying he and Derek, but they just look too cute. The two of them take a combination of cutesy and silly pictures, even one where Allison is carrying Scott wedding style - bless her heart for putting up with him. She doesn’t even protest when he proposes that she pose as if she’s hunting him while he pretends to run away. Again, bless her pure heart.

Derek and Stiles go next. Cora whistles from where she’s standing with her short black dress and Derek holds back the want to go shove her down. Stiles takes a moment to fix his date’s tie and they both chuckle when they hear Talia quickly snap a picture.

“So cute, boys! Go over there by the trees .. brings out those ties even more.” For the last one, Stiles decides to be daring and reaches up to kiss Derek. The wolf is surprised at first, then he melts into the kiss, not caring when everyone either cheers or groans.

“That last shot is so precious,” She moves forward to pinch their cheeks while pushing them away.

“Erica! Boyd!” The couple immediately saunter over when she calls. Erica’s wearing a red dress that hugs her curves, her blonde hair even more striking today. Boyd’s dark red tie stands out against his black suit as he stands closely behind her, looking almost connected.

They take a multitude of pictures where Erica is just glowing, and Boyd even manages to smile in almost all of them, but only because he’s staring at his Mate. Their last though, is probably the best of the night. Erica is in front of Boyd, he has one hand on her waist, one on her stomach. He rests his face in the space between her neck and shoulder, and she has her left hand on his that’s resting gently on her stomach. They all stare in awe, knowing how deep a love and connection the two have, and when Talia takes the picture she has tears in her eyes and runs over to hug them. Everyone’s confused, wanting to know why she’s so emotional, but they all pass it off as Talia just being proud.

“Are you two done? You’d think these were maternity shots or something.” Jackson speaks up, getting slapped by almost everyone that’s near them. The single members of the Pack take their pictures - Lydia taking the longest of course - then they all come together for one single and perfect group shot. Everyone smiles - Laura gets Isaac to laugh by tickling him and running out of the picture right before Talia takes it and they all get into their respective cars. Scott and Allison are riding with Derek and Stiles, Lydia is riding with Erica and Boyd, and Cora and Isaac are riding with Jackson.

“Cora, don’t forget to spike the punch!!” Peter yells before they drive off, laughing as both Laura and Talia slap him behind his head.

“You know I wouldn’t forget!” She yells out the window, flashing him the flask he secretly gifted her for Christmas.

~

The Prom was something that Stiles never though would happen to him. As a freshman, he always pushed it aside, joking that he’d rather spend that night playing call of duty with Scott, but he always secretly wished that he could go and have fun like in the movies. He never thought that he and Scott would make friends with the people they surround themselves with everyday, the people who they have fought for and fought along with and the people he loved.

He never though that he and Lydia would become best friends and that he’d watch her win Prom Queen and have to dance with the Prom King who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Seeing Scott, his best friend from since diapers, kiss the love of his life as they danced was also a shocker because, come on, who would ever think that Scott McCall would get with Allison Argent? And don’t even get him started on finding out that Erica and Boyd were expecting a BabyWere in seven months when Cora questioned the girl on her odd and uncharacteristic choice to not drink the Vodka spiked punch.

The most unexpected thing of all to Stiles, though, was freely and openly dancing and kissing Derek Hale all night long. He didn’t care that students and teachers alike stared, whispered and gossiped when they walked in holding hands. And he surely didn’t care as they got lost in each other, carefree and happy in a way they hadn’t been for a while. Stiles never thought he’d end up enjoying high school the way he did, surrounded by the people he’d risk his life for at the drop of a hat.

Graduation was, in simple terms, hectic. Beacon Hills decided to be the hottest day of the year, Lydia was freaking out and snapping on everyone over her speech, both Cora and Stiles were emotional over the absence of their dead parents, Derek was walking on eggshells over the impending and soon approaching talk that he and Stiles would need to have about the boy’s move to New York, Erica had a last minute wardrobe emergency because her newly popped belly prevented her from wearing the dress she picked out months ago, Talia was a mix with of excitement - seeing so many of her Beta’s and children graduate into adulthood - and sadness - wishing Robert was here to see all of it, and he can’t forget how bitter Jackson still was over being Salutatorian.

In the end though, Erica found an even prettier dress that complimented both her and BabyWere, Cora found comfort in her remaining family, Derek and John cheered Stiles up, Talia pushed her sadness away because she knew how Robert would never want her to be upset on a day like this, Lydia gave the most amazing speech in Beacon Hills High history, Jackson admitted defeat, and they all partied and drank the night away at the party that Talia allowed them to throw for the whole graduating class.

Things were great, everyone was buzzed off of the feeling of finally escaping high school and moving up in life. Everyone was growing up day by day, and, for certain members of the Pack, important decisions were getting close to needing to be made. But no one wanted to admit that; they all wanted to keep pushing these decisions and talks aside, hoping that somehow adulthood would take a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, voice your opinions and leave any comments bc I love reading feedback! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!! Xx.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a lot to clear up and confront in this chapter, so it is quite long! Focuses on Stiles/Derek and Cora/Lydia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The word “screamed” is linked to a youtube video edit of Lydia and her abilities (which come into play this chapter) because she’s absolutely amazing and one of the best characters to grace TV. Enjoy!!
> 
> Credit to the video creator: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTGX34aeKemh38k1VVu7kZg

“How do you two manage to avoid such a huge elephant in the room?” Scott asks as he plops back down onto Stiles’ bed. The stepbrothers are spending the day together because they both felt like they hadn’t had a day at home together in forever.

Stiles shrugs, endlessly clicking through apartment websites on his laptop. “We just .. find our way around it.” He says, reaching over to steal the Dorito from Scott’s hand.

“You two are acting like children. Just talk about it!” Stiles rolls his eyes at the boy as he scribbles down a landlord’s number.

“It’s not that easy, Scotty. It’s a huge conversation that comes with huge decisions,” He’s explained this to himself multiple times, but it’s never made this situation any easier. “He doesn’t want me to go, but he’ll never ask me to stay because come on, no one wants to feel like they stopped someone from their dreams.”

Scott nods, “And you?”

“I .. um,” He stammers and takes a minute to think of what exactly he feels and wants.

“I would love for him to come with me.”

“But,”

“But, Derek would never leave this place. You’d think he would, seeing as it must be so traumatizing, but all that trauma has made him want to stick to his family’s side forever like glue. He has all this pent up anxiety about leaving, then coming back to them being dead.”

Scott frowns, “So, you think he won’t ever leave?”

“Nope. Not even for me.” The tan boy’s frown deepens as he reaches forward to rub his brother’s shoulder. “That sucks, man.”

“Yeah,” Stiles shrugs again and goes back to looking for places to live. He could live on campus like every other college Freshman, but tuition is already so expensive that he’d rather eliminate room and board from things that his father has to pay. Spending almost all his time helping at the station really paid off when he bagged a paid internship at the NYPD. So, finding a job that paid well enough to make rent and buy groceries was out of his worries. The big problem now, though, was actually finding a good apartment in his budget.

Some days, he really envied the others. Lydia had already bought her traditional Boston city brownstone, which her parents agreed to pay for. Jackson’s parents had, of course, gotten him an obnoxious and lavish over-the-top flat in England. Erica and Boyd finally got everything finalized with their apartment, and were in the moving process. Isaac was, of course, staying at home, enjoying his summer, going out with friends and working at the clinic with Deaton before he started college in the Fall. Scott was also staying at home to go to school and Allison had already begun working full time at her father’s shop and as a huntress. Everyone seemed to have everything figured out so quickly after graduating high school, except Stiles who couldn’t even find an apartment where his kitchen wouldn’t be two inches away from the living room.

Maybe he _could_ have already settled on a place but was unconsciously, yet intentionally, stalling in hopes that Derek would make his mind up to move with him, but Stiles would never admit that. There are days when he works up the courage to finally just ask Derek, then he goes over to the house and sees the man curled up with his sisters. How could he ever be the person to split this family up again after the death of Robert?

Stiles sighs and begins to put his laptop and notes away. He grabs the other controller and begins playing with Scott to get his mind off of things.

P.s. it doesn’t work.

~

“Yeah, um, right there! No, no, over there instead!” Derek and Boyd both share a loud sigh as they follow Erica’s constantly changing orders. He happily agreed to help set up the nursery, but now he’s quickly beginning to regret that decision. The minute they situate something in one spot, she changes her mind and has them put it somewhere else. Plus, Lydia playing bossy interior designer really wasn’t helping. He and Boyd place the dresser in the new position, watching in exasperation as the two girls decide if they like it.

“Um,” The pregnant wolf says as she taps her finger on her chin, deep in thought.

“Erica, for the love of god, please just let it stay there! It’s really pretty here! Right, Boyd?” Boyd nods his head without even looking down, and taps the top of the empty, white dresser, “Beautiful.”

Lydia rolls her eyes, but thankfully agrees with the two and begin packing in the baby’s clothes. Derek sits against the wall and sighs in relief when Cora comes up with the large rocking chair - she can deal with those two all by herself.

“I’m gonna have a lot on my hands in these coming months, huh?” Boyd says as he comes to stand near Derek. They laugh and Derek lightly and playfully punches his leg.

“I wish you all the luck.” He whispers, hoping Erica doesn’t hear him, and they continue laughing when the girl gives them both the finger from over her shoulder. Derek smiles when he hears a car door close from downstairs, and the quick heartbeat following it. He waits patiently, knowing exactly who it is that’s making his way upstairs.

“I’m here for baby making!” The boy yells as he enters the room with a skip.

“Erica and Boyd already took care of that for everyone.” Erica shoves Cora with a laugh and Stiles leans down to plant a kiss on his boyfriend’s - _boyfriend?_ \- lips. Derek grins and wraps his arms around the boy to quickly pull him down to the ground.

“What took you so long?” Derek whispers softly into the boy's hair.

“Scott took forever in the shower,” Stiles situates himself in between the man’s legs to get comfortable, wrapping the larger arms around his shoulders as he leans back into his chest. “It’s their anniversary today.” Derek hums in response, resting his chin on the top of Stiles’ head.

“I missed you,” He lowers his voice to avoid having the others in the room hear and coo over them, but a small growl manages to slip out. Boyd hears the noise from the older wolf and chuckles as he ruffles Stiles’ hair before heading over to his own Mate to give the two some privacy.

“Are you just saying that because Erica was bossing you around and I wasn’t here to defend you? Plus, we were together two days ago.” Derek shrugs and buries his face deeper into the boy's hair, groaning fondly when as he smells the vanilla shampoo of Stiles’ that he loves.

“Doesn’t matter. Two days is too long.” Derek murmurs, rubbing his hands on Stiles’ shoulders.

“Don’t you know by now that Derek is quite the possessive lover? He needs his little twinkg Mate around 24/7.” Cora turns to say, dodging the teddy bears that both Derek and Stiles throw in her direction with a laugh.

Stiles laughs, “Yeah, then how is he going to handle being away from me when I get to New York?” The words leave his mouth before he can think and everyone kind of tenses up. After finally telling Derek about NYU, Stiles told the rest of the Pack. He could tell that they were all shocked, no one ever thought that the Sheriff’s kid would leave Beacon Hills. No one wanted to make the boy feel bad though, so they all cheered and congratulated him, secretly hoping that he’d stay. It was bad enough that two other members of the Pack were moving away, but now three? That was a huge adjustment for everyone, not just for Mates.

Cora and Erica are the first ones to laugh at the untimely joke, immediately easing the tension in the room for everyone except for the man behind Stiles. Derek didn’t laugh nor smile he just hid his frown and held Stiles closer to him.

After a bit more cuddling, the two finally get up to help around some more. The soon-to-be parents hadn’t found out the gender of their baby yet - the little nugget was moving around too much to see whether it had male or female parts - so, they wanted to make the nursery as neutral as possible. The walls were yellow and they stuck to cute cartoons and animals for decoration.

It took them a couple more hours to get everything perfect. The three wolves stuck to the heavy duty, Erica getting a glare from Boyd every time she attempted to lift something, and the humans stick to decorating and giving them orders. Stiles took great joy in making a multitude of inappropriate construction worker jokes due to Derek’s hardware outfit, and paint all over his hands - and parts of his face due to a very childish Cora. He couldn’t help finding so much pleasure in seeing Derek in worker mode, sweating and muscles flexing.

“Keep your pants on,” Lydia whispered, giggling when he swatted her away.

“Horny, much? Gosh, how long has it been since you two banged?” She asks while holding up two pillows for him to pick which he preferred in the crib. Two years ago, he’d be stunned  by her choice of words, but quickly after getting to know everyone, they all realized that there was way more to the girl than her uptight exterior and front. 

He points to the one on the right, an orange and pink sunset painted on it. “If you must know, Derek and I have a very healthy sex life, thank you very much. He can hardly resist holding me down in bed, throwing me around and manhandling me with those big, strong-“

“I do _not_ need to hear this!” Cora yells from across the room where everyone else is giggling. Derek has a small smile on his face despite his cheeks having an adorable tint of red from slight embarrassment.

“I do! Keep going!” Erica adds in, laughing harder when Cora puts her hands over her ears in horror.

“It’s true. Very healthy.” Derek confirms, chuckling at the wink Stiles gives him.

“Please stop!” Cora screams again, hiding her face in Boyd’s arm.

“What, so only Erica and Boyd can go on about how they slam each other into walls??” Stiles says with mock hurt.

Boyd shakes his head with a laugh and shrugs, “That’s all Erica’s doing.”

They spend the rest of the day doing the little things left to do in the room, Erica trying her hardest to not cry when everything is finished. She hugs onto Boyd’s side and everyone gives them privacy and heads into the living room. They have pizza, and curly fries for Stiles, and spend the rest of the night lounging around the tv, exhausted and half asleep. Everyone feels content, having helped to welcome the newest member of Pack. 

~

“Let’s throw a party!” Was what started it all. Cora screamed one day when they were all hanging at the house. Everyone went along with it, of course, because who doesn’t love a good party at the Hales? It was themed as a going away party for Stiles, Lydia, and Jackson, but Talia wasn’t a fool. She knew that this was just another excuse to get drunk, so she took up with her and Peter’s usual routine and they got out of town to give the kids some space. Cora set everything up, invited people outside of the pack, stocked up on alcohol and before they knew it, the party was in full swing.

Everyone was drinking, except for Erica of course who was downing glasses of apple cider to at least feel involved while Boyd stayed close. Cora was everywhere, quickly talking and dancing with everyone, as she made her way around the house as a perfect host. Derek did his usual, leaned against a wall with a beer while keeping an eye out for Stiles. Scott and Allison were both drunk and couldn’t stop making out, taking little breaks in between to laugh at whatever was said or done. None of the Pack even _dared_ to question Lydia and Jackson who were pressed against each other, intimately swaying to the loud, blaring music. And Isaac was hanging with some of his newer friends, standing suspiciously close to one Danny Mahealani.

It was the end of July, inching very close to the times when the three needed to depart in time to set up in their new homes. Stiles got lucky when, one day, Derek texted him a link to an apartment. It was extremely close to campus, huge bedroom, spacious bathroom, and Stiles could actually have a dining table and not have to share a kitchen and living room. The best part? It was cheap; it was actually under his budget. He was hesitant for a bit, nerves and anxiety building up, before finally sending in his deposit at his father’s urging.

It was weird, talking about his plans with Derek. One day, the wolf just asked him and he spilled everything as if he was desperately waiting for Derek to show him that he actually _wanted_ to know. Stiles was happy at first, telling Derek all his plans and ideas and thoughts. They’d go shopping together to pick out a few things that he wanted to replace in the already furnished apartment, and it was good, it really was. Of course, all that excitement died down when he realized that everything he’d be doing in Manhattan in a couple months, he’d be doing it alone. He and Derek were able to talk about the boy’s move away from home, but Derek never initiated or implied that he’d be joining, and that’s the part that always made Stiles sink deeper into himself

Derek was sitting on the kitchen island to take a breather; he’d never get used to drunk eighteen and nineteen years olds no matter how many parties the Pack threw. He used his finger to lazily swipe at the icing on a strawberry cupcake - his guilty pleasure. Erica came in to give him a sleepy hug before retiring upstairs, claiming she was way too pregnant to be around horny, and intoxicated idiots. Despite being far, he kept an ear on Stiles who was yelling over the music to Allison and some other kids from their graduating class. The party was entertaining, but Derek still wasn’t too fond of it. Maybe because he’d rather just hang around the house with the Pack, or because he really didn’t want to think about the fact that Stiles was apart of the going away group.

In less than three weeks, his Mate would be traveling and be staying across the country. He’d be around new surroundings, new smells, new _threats_. All without him. The thought racked Derek with anxiety and paranoia, and his immediate thought was to hop on the plane with the boy. He sometimes dreamt of it; moving in together, him finally getting a teaching job, Stiles going to school and work and living his dream, all while being together in the big city. Then, all those daydreams would disappear when his wolf would begin to panic over the thought of leaving his family. How could he abandon his sisters, his mother, and his uncle, after all that they’ve been through together? What if another immoral hunter, taking inspiration from Kate, came back after them? The pack would be down four members, maybe five if Erica was still pregnant, to fight off skilled, trained and angry predators. Derek was at a crossroads, and everything was happening so quickly.

He looked up from his cupcake when he heard the slam of the back door. He listened closely and heard a quickened heartbeat  which prompted him to hurry out of the kitchen to see who it was. He stepped onto the patio, brows furrowed in wonder, and stilled when he saw a batch of curly blonde hair. The boy looked up at him and sighed when they made eye contact

“You okay?” Derek asks softly.

Isaac shrugged, slumping his shoulders and rubbing his hands up and down his thighs. Derek had never gotten a chance to talk and apologize to the boy after everything that happened. Every time he attempted, Isaac would rush out of the room, and after a couple times, he just stopped trying. He thought things would work themselves out, that one day he and Isaac would just start a conversation and fall back into their old selves and the past would be forgotten; of course, he was very, very wrong. Things were still tense between the three of them, and he didn’t know if it’d ever be fixed.

“No, I’m not. I’m an idiot,” He answered. Derek looked around nervously before fully stepping out onto the patio and closing the door behind him. Isaac had actually responded to something he said, so he was going to take this chance to make peace - now or never.

“You wanna talk about it?” He sits on the other bench across from Isaac and stares hopefully.

“I keep messing it up with this guy who really likes me, and I think tonight I really blew it,” Isaac revealed. Derek didn’t even know that the boy had someone in his life, so this came as a shock to him.

“Well, do you like him too?” Isaac finally makes eye contact with him and nods.

“Then, what’s the problem?” Derek didn’t want to sound accusing or rude, but he really didn’t see the issue.

Isaac scoffs, “I’m sorry for having insecurities caused by a recent past experience that’s preventing me from believing that a guy could _actually_ like me,” Derek felt his stomach sink at the comment.

“Isaac, I’m-“ he tried to say.

“It’s just that the last guy that I really liked, basically told me that I was being used as security backup for someone more intriguing and _cute_.” Derek was at a loss for words and Isaac smirked as if that’s the exact reaction he was going for.

“Isaac, I was a piece of shit,”

“Yup.”

“Shit, Isaac, I’m so sorry.” Derek inched closer as the boy just stared at him, expecting more.

“What I did was beyond fucked up,” he breathed.

“Sure was.”

“And I really want you to understand how much I regret that. I led you one, in hopes that if things went south with Stiles, then I’d have someone to lean on.” Derek was beginning to get restless, wanting nothing more than to just walk up to the boy and hug him.

“So you admit it?” Isaac asks, leaning back into the bench.

“Yes, and I’m so deeply sorry. You aren’t a spawn or some toy to play with when my other one breaks. You’re,” Derek takes a minute to collect his thoughts, running his hands through his hair stressfully.

“You’re my brother. I’m sorry.” Isaac gives him a little smile as he nods, and Derek knows the younger wolf had been listening to his heart the entire time, trying to scope out a lie that wasn’t there.

“Thank you for that,” He nodded thoughtfully, “I also want to apologize ... for what I said.”

“No, Isaac, you were heated that night, I get it. No need to apologize to me.” Derek waved his hand around in dismissal, wanting nothing more than for this conflict to be over with already.

“No, being upset doesn’t give me the right to be nasty with you. What I said was so disgusting, and I’m very sorry. I know you aren’t “a killer”, and I know you wouldn’t _ever_ hurt any of us,” He chuckles, “well, at least without reason.”

Derek laughs, “Shut up.” and stands up in a hurry to gather the boy in his arms for a hug. They hold onto each other tightly, sniffing and scenting the other to make up for all that lost time. Despite everything that happened, Derek always loved Isaac; he’s his little brother.

“Am I interrupting?” They look up to see Stiles in the doorway with a smirk. Isaac quickly pulls away and keeps his head down, almost as if he’s in shame.

“You two finally making up?” Derek nods, “Hey, Isaac, I wanna say I’m sorry for always flipping out on you over this guy.” Stiles steps forward and claps the boy on his shoulder. Isaac finally looks up and shrugs, “Yeah, me too. I was a ... very jealous bitch.” They all burst into laughter and Stiles runs off again when Lydia screams his name from inside.

“So, what’s this guy’s name?” Isaac’s face gets red and Derek can’t help but chuckle.

“Danny.” A smile spreads across his face at the mention of the boy’s name.

“Is he Fae?”

“Magic user.” Derek nods with an impressed look, other than Lydia and Deaton, they hadn’t had many magic users in Beacon Hills for a while. “Go after him.”

Isaac smiled. “Yeah, I think I will.” They talk for a little, catching up on everything they missed while they weren’t exactly on good terms. And when Derek stops hearing Stiles’ voice from inside, he makes his way to the door.

“Hey, Der,” Isaac calls out before he can fully open the door. He turns around and sees the blonde giving him that adoring smile that he had been deprived of for months.

“Don’t mess with what you and Stiles have. Everyone can see that you two love each other. Just like what you told me, go after him. Go to New York.” Derek’s stunned into silence; he doesn’t really know how to respond to the boy who’s still genuinely smiling at him. They’ve only just gotten back on the other’s good side, so Isaac giving him positive advice in regards to his relationship with Stiles has him in absolute shock. He can’t do anything but smile back at the boy with a nod before stepping into the house and closing the door behind him.

~

Cora couldn’t keep still. She was the host, as usual, but this time was different. This was a going away party for three people who mean a lot to her, though one certain strawberry-blonde girl trumped the other two, especially Jackson, by far. She did everything in her power to make sure that this party would be up to the girls’ expectations and standards. She set the house up in confetti, streamers, and balloons. Hell, she even got all three of them a personal cake designed after their universities. It was perfect, but she just couldn’t drink and dance and have a good time like everyone else, because she needed everything to _stay_ perfect. Every time she checked up on Lydia, the girl was having an amazing time; she was even doing her tipsy dance that Cora loves.

The wolf couldn’t stop staring at the girl, and all night her thoughts and emotions had been eating her alive. It had been almost three years since they broke things off, and Cora has had her fair share of other girlfriends and flings, but absolutely none of them compared to Lydia Martin.

Cora used to live in a fairytale. When she realized that boys weren’t her cup of tea, she came out to her family, and they all accepted her and continued to love her, then she met the girl of her dreams. At only fifteen, Lydia was still the strong, over-analytical, pushy, sexy, beautiful and striking woman that she is now. Cora fell head over heels for the girl and finding out that they were both supernaturals only heightened her affections. Cora didn’t care that Lydia wasn’t ready to come out yet, that she hung with people that she despised, or that she sometimes bossed her, and everyone, around. She wanted to be enveloped in everything that was Lydia Martin. Sneaking around and sneaking kisses had become their thing. They made it their mission to be as obvious, yet private as possible and they ran around Beacon Hills with a cloud of happiness and love hanging over them. Lydia became apart of the Pack, she became family, and she became the love of Cora’s life.

Yet, even with all of that, Cora still managed to fuck everything up. Even after Lydia’s bisexuality, along with their relationship became public, and they carried on with their lives, Cora still couldn’t confess or voice her dedication and love to the girl.

Her parent’s anniversary had come up and as she listened to her mother cry in the basement, where she thought no one would hear her, Cora could feel herself drowning. She began to have nightmares of her father’s raw and burnt flesh, his body slipping farther and farther away from them. She would sneak into Talia’s room, read her journal entries of when she fell in love with Robert and when they got married and when she got pregnant and when they went on vacations, and one from the day before he died. Every time Cora got close to telling Lydia that she was the only girl and person for her, her mind would race with terrifying thoughts. All she could think of was being the happiest person in the world, then having to deal with the death of the woman she loves. How could she allow herself to fall in love if one day it’d all be gone and out of her reach?

Of course, none of this helped their relationship. Cora began to distance herself from Lydia, and they both began to drift apart. Lydia was frustrated, feeling like Cora was playing with her feelings, and Cora just couldn’t find the right words to tell Lydia all the emotions and thoughts she was suffering with. It got so bad that the never even realized that the only time she would show affection to her girlfriend was when she wanted to have sex. She had sunk into a slump that not only affected their bond but also her wellbeing. Noticing this, Lydia dove deeper into her education to avoid her relationship. She stayed after school for hours on end to study and joined a multitude of clubs, and it was obvious that she had become embarrassed of and disappointed in Cora. The young wolf skipped school, hung with a group of nobodies, drank and smoked herself into a stupor and not even the rest of her family could get through to her. It got to the point where their differences stopped bringing them closer but pushed them further apart. 

In Cora’s eyes, Lydia was everything great in the world and more. Cora had memorized every spec of brown and shade of _green_ in those eyes, staring into them and finding herself floating. Because of those eyes, everything had become green to Cora. 

She never thought that that feeling would ever disappear. Now, the girl could feel her chest pang in pain when she noticed the shift in Lydia’s eyes when looking at her; the hurt, the pain of the past, the letdown. _Every single time_ , she’s alone with her thoughts, she thinks back to the horrible day that officially ended their connection. 

They had gone almost a whole week without speaking to one another. Cora never came to school, never answered Lydia’s messages or calls, missed training and meetings with the Pack and was always out with her new friends whenever Lydia would come over. The day they broke up, though, was the worst thing that Cora had done throughout the three months or so of their relationship issues.

The girl had disappeared again, but this time for three days straight, and wouldn’t answer anyone’s calls. They got so worried that the wolves even resorted to going old school, howling into the open sky in hopes that her wolf would break under the pressure of the Pack bond and compel her to howl back. But they never heard got a response. It was around the time that Beacon Hills had basically become a tourist attraction for all evil Fae, and they were all so distracted with worry and fear for the youngest Hale, that everyone forgot about the coven of witches who wanted to take control of the town.

~

_Lydia was in Cora’s room, trying her hardest to concentrate enough to locate the girl with a map and a ring of hers. It was a struggle trying to calm her nerves enough to successfully figure out where her girlfriend was hiding, but soon enough the sound of her whispering chants made her calm down. She could see sights of water, rocks and strangers milling about, but an exact location wouldn’t pop into her mind._   _She could feel herself holding back, terrified that if she looked too much into the vision then she’d feel death, and begin screaming at the feeling of her girlfriend’s body already beginning to decay._

_It wasn’t until her own body went stiff with fear from hearing Talia’s rare **Alpha**  voice that she tuned back into her surroundings, forgetting about the location spell. She was such a mess of thoughts, ranging from anger to stress that she hardly registered the screaming and the howls coming from downstairs. The Banshee ran out of the house, her feet moving faster than ever as her mind raced with nothing but gruesome thoughts because they all knew that an Alpha only howled like that when a Beta had been fatally hurt._

_Reaching the backyard in record time, she watched in shock as four witches stood at the edge of the woods, chanting and easily throwing out spells that could injure, and kill, almost every member of the Pack. She saw Allison, Peter and the newest member of the Pack, Stiles, kneeling over a body on the ground. Scott’s. The boy looked limp and no one could concentrate on fighting as he lay there on the ground looking terribly close to death. Derek and Laura were standing behind their mother and Alpha as they all charged towards the witches in perfect unison. Lydia watched as Boyd snuck behind one of the witches and snapped her neck without breaking a sweat, the three others not even batting an eye. He attempted to attack the next two, but before he could even move, he landed on the ground with a desparate and grueling groan, gasping desperately for air. Lydia felt her stomach sink as she struggled to look away from the boy, one of the strongest members of the Pack, aching and writhing helplessly in pain._

_Laura and Derek were on all fours as they leaped into the air, already shifted into their Beta forms, ready to gnaw at their attackers necks. Lydia watched in utter terror as two witches held their hands up, stilling the two young wolves in mid-air. They spoke in unison in an ancient language that Lydia recognized as Latin, but with a mix of something else that she couldn’t register. Both her and Talia winced at the sounds of Derek and Laura’s bones crunching before the hit the ground with a loud and heavy thump. Peter shot up from where he was helping Scott as Talia let out another rare growl. He charged forward, coming up fast and angry behind her on all fours as Talia made her final and full shift. Her fur a bold and terrifying black, her eyes a menacing and killer crimson._

_The two older wolves targeted the two witches who seemed to be guarding the leader, ripping and tearing at their throats in a split second. It was only then that the last witch stepped back, staring at them blankly, but even from where Lydia was standing, she could see the small smile on her face and suddenly it all clicked. A switch went off in the the Banshee’s brain as she began running, her heart beating out of her chest as she tried to find the words she needed to save the last two standing members of her Pack._

_“IT’S A TRICK! Talia, Peter, RUN it’s a trick!!” The witch laughed, holding both her arms out as she began to reel in the life and power of the three dead women._

_Lydia was terrified. When he taught her about black magic and its dangers, Deaton had told her the ancient myth of the four LeRoux sisters. They came from a long line of Haitian Creole witches, tired of being oppressed by white English colonists. So, they voted on which sister was the most powerful, the Supreme Sister, and staged an attack. It was a suicide mission, the three others put up a fight, purposely weak enough that they could be killed, and as the Englishmen fought them, they chanted a spell that allowed their power to be transferred to the Supreme, immediately upon their deaths. It was the ultimate power move, one that ensured that their family line would never die out as long as that Supreme remained on Earth. Deaton said that hundreds of Covens around the globe had attempted to do this spell, but failed every time. Soon, all witches just left it for what it was named: a Myth. Young witches told campfire stories about this supposed Supreme, joked about her roaming towns, gathering more and more power from younger witches who were desperate to kill themselves and finally be seen as important._

_As she got closer, Lydia recognized the signature LeRoux coven facial markings on the last standing witch - the bitch was really alive. She thought fast, knowing what she needed to do at a moment like this. It was a risk, but one she had to take to save her Pack. If she allowed the Supreme to gather all the power then she’d be unstoppable; she would kill them all, Alpha present or not, and take over Beacon Hills. Lydia began chanting in Latin, smirking when she caught the attention of the surprised witch._

_LeRoux laughed, “I didn’t take you for a sòsyè.” Lydia could tell that she was doubting her, that she took her for a joke. As the woman raised her arms again, Lydia began to insert Creole into the spell, completely stunning the witch._

_“How do you ..” Lydia could see the panic on her face and took the moment to increase the offering, switching from Latin to chanting the spell in complete Creole._

_“I’m not a witch,” The red-headed girl said, smirking when the witch’s face turned into a mix of fright and confusion. She tried to begin a spell that would probably easily overpower Lydia, but it was too late. The bodies of the dead witches on the ground were already beginning to get back their lost color as the newly transferred power drained out of the Supreme._

_“HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS? I am Eudora of the LeRoux coven, I cannot be stopped!” Lydia could feel her body draining and fueling up at the same time. She was going through with another spell that had never been completed before, one that always ended in death, but Lydia couldn’t stop now. If she did, then Eudora would gain back all the power, and kill the entirety of the Hale pack. She gathered up the last of her remaining strength, feeling the ground and the trees rumble and shake and she let her body go numb as she did what she did best, she_[ ** _screamed_**](https://youtu.be/_o-HznB7DsI) _._

_Everyone that wasn’t already unconscious fell to the ground, watching in equal awe and pain as they covered their ears. Lydia felt herself going faint but kept repeating the spell in her head, using the sight of her Pack member’s limp bodies on the grounds as strength to transfer the last bit of power from the dead witches to herself. She could already feel the difference in her body as Eudora sank to her knees, skin pale and blue as the other witches died again. Eudora’s eyes were bloodshoot, thick and black blood pooling out of her ears and nostrils from the power of a Banshee’s scream. She was choking on her own blood, gasping in pain and crying for help as Lydia walked forward, quickly snapping the dying woman’s neck with just the flick of her finger with no mercy before she fell onto the ground herself, completely blacking out._

_—_

_When Lydia woke up, Cora was in the room with her. Her eyes were red, her face messy with tear tracks as she chocked on her sobs. Lydia sat up in anger, quickly regretting it when she felt her head spin. Cora spun around at the girls’ sudden movement, sighing in relief as she ran to the bed to help her up. She held her in her arms, hugging and squeezing her as she continued to cry, so emotional that she didn’t even realize that Lydia wasn’t hugging her back. Lydia began to get irritated at the girl's touch, wanting nothing more than to yell and scream at her. Cora stepped back, running her hands all over her girlfriends face and Lydia could smell the potent smell of alcolhol coming off of her breath. She became angrier, wanting nothing more than to be away from the girl and she took the chance to push at the girl’s chest with all the force and might she had left, not caring when Cora stared back at her in shock and hurt._

_“We are **done**.” She spat out, voice stone cold as she headed for the door in a hurry. Cora grabbed her hand, spinning her around with a fucking smile on her face that only pissed Lydia off even more._

_“Lydia come on don’t be stup-“ She was cut off with a hard slap in the face. The sound ringing throughout the room, and probably the entire house. Cora gasped, holding the side of her face and staring at the girl in horror._

_“Do not call me stupid, Cora!” Lydia stepped forward, her face heating up with pure anger. “We all almost died. ALL of us. I saw Scott on the ground limp and not moving, I heard Derek and Laura’s bones crack, I saw Boyd sink to the ground, unable to even blink, I saw the absolute fear in Talia’s eyes as she watched all of her children fall one by one!” She emphasized everything she said with another push to Cora’s chest, not stopping until the girl landed hard against the wall._

_“And where were you, Cora?? We all could’ve died. I could have died!” Lydia was screaming in the girls face now, feeling nothing but absolute hate._

_“I’m sorry!” Cora responded, looking almost nonchalant._

_“Yeah, you really should be! We were all off our game because we were so fucking worried about you, not to mention one member down! I,” Lydia’s voice cracked as she remembered how exactly she was able to kill Eudora and save the Pack._

_“I now have a power in me that was gained through sacrifice and black magic. I don’t even know what could happen or what that means for me! I don’t know who you are, but you are not the girl I fell for. You’re a distant asshole who only talks to me when you want sex. We aren’t girlfriends, we’re fuck buddies!”_

_“Lydia, come on, that isn’t true.” Cora pleaded, trying to reach forward and hold the girl in hopes of calming her down._

_“Tell me you love me.” Lydia was crying now, voice going down to a sullen whisper. She harshly wiped her face, trying not to break down even more in front of the other girl._

_“I ..” Lydia watched her, green eyes losing their spark as they traced all over the girls’ face looking for an answer. She tried to see just even a little inclination that Cora would actually tell her what she wanted to hear, but there was nothing. Nothing at all._

_Lydia chuckled, “You can’t even look me in the eye.” She backed away in disgust. Lydia headed for the door, sparing one last glance behind her. Cora tried racing forward but was suddenly stopped when Lydia put her hand out, making the girl go stiff with just her mind and her hand._

_“What the fuck,”_

_“I’m not doing this anymore. This is it, Cora.”_

~

“Co!” The wolf snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of her nickname and blinked to see Laura standing in front of her. She tried to cover up her blackout with a smile, but she knew that Laura noticed that something was wrong. Cora scanned her sister’s face and noticed that she wasn’t the only one trying to hide something.

“What’s up?” Cora stepped forward casually to try and smell for any signs of distress on her older sister. She laughed, fake, and waved her hands in dismissal, “Let’s go outside, yeah? For some air.” Cora didn’t question it, wanting to figure out what was up with her sister, so she let the older wolf drag her towards the patio door.

“Oh! I forgot my drink!” She rushed to turn back around and grab her newly filled cup. As she looked up to head back in Laura’s direction, Cora was frozen in her tracks. She watched, mouth agape, as Lydia and Jackson pressed themselves up against the wall, tongues tied and bodies close. Jackson was passing his clammy hands through Lydia’s hair that she loved so much, and she could _hear_ the girl moaning into his mouth.

“Cora, come on, just don’t watch this. Let’s go outside.” She felt Laura’s arms around her shoulders as she guided her outside, and set her down on the bench. Cora couldn’t think as she began downing her entire cup of wolfsbane-Vodka.

“Easy there,” Laura whispered, quickly grabbing the cup out of the stunned girls’ hands.

“Talk to me, Co.” Laura sat next to her sister, rubbing her hands all over her back in comfort.

“I just ... no matter _what_ I do I can’t fucking get her out my head! I’ve dated and slept with so many other girls, I even came close to really falling for one then I just began to recognize all the things that she lacked that Lydia had. I can’t even drink her out of my mind because when I’m drunk I just think of when we’d get drunk together. And she moved on so quickly, acting like what we had meant nothing, and I see her with that fucking asshole who doesn’t deserve her at _all_ and I get so fucking pissed!” She was screaming, fangs aching against her lips as she dug her claws into the wood of the bench.

Laura frowns, “You think she moved on quickly?”

“Well, she was with Aiden literally _three_ days after breaking up with me and slept with two other guys before she settled with that fucking asshole, Jackson,” Cora snaps, putting her face in her hands.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Laura whispers, “She was with those other guys, just to try and stuff you out of her mind. She loved you, so much, and when it ended so abruptly she didn’t know what to do. Especially with everything else that was going on with her magic, she needed distractions since you weren’t there to help her in a way that a lover can. Jackson? That all started as revenge, then she just happened to develop actual feelings for him.” Cora slowly looked up, staring up at her sister with huge eyes.

“You think so?” Her voice was small.

“Yup. I also think that what’s going on in there,” She waves her hands towards the house, “is just the both of them remembering what they had, and how they’re leaving one another, so they think having sex one last time is the solution.”

Laura let Cora rest her head on her shoulder as she laughed. “Yeah? Then why didn’t she come have sex with me one last time? I don’t care what anyone says, what we had was way deeper than _anything_ she could ever have with him.”

“Maybe because with Jackson, it’ll just be sex. A meaningless hookup. With you, it’ll bring back an enormous amount of memories and emotions.” Laura wraps her arms around Cora, trying her hardest to comfort the girl who hardly ever broke down like this.

She whispers, “Wanna know what else I think?” Cora shrugs, “I think she still loves you too.” Cora couldn’t do anything but laugh, obviously not believing what she was hearing. They stayed like that for a long time, Cora letting herself be held and vulnerable and Laura providing the love and help that Cora needed right now without any signs of judgment.

“Everyone’s gonna bang tonight except me. Even Isaac is getting some!” They burst into laughter and Cora sits up, wiggling her arms and legs as if that’ll release all her emotions.

“I’m not gonna “bang” anyone tonight, either, so we’re in this together,” Laura whispers, running her hand through her younger sister’s shoulder length, chestnut hair.

Cora tsks and shakes her head, “I invited Parrish,” Laura gasps, hurrying to stand up off the bench. “He said he’d be here after his shift”

Laura immediately began to fix her hair, pulling out her lipstick next, “Cora!”

The younger girl laughs, “Surprise?”

~

Jackson left first. He was all smiles and no one _dared_ to be sad in front of him, seeing as he made them all promise to not “ruin his mood”. This was probably the happiest that they had all ever seen him, but no one took it to the heart. Everyone knew that Jackson was sad to leave his Pack and that he loved him, but they also knew how ecstatic he was to go to Oxford. He hugged them all, even Stiles, and they all noticed when his mood dwindled a little after hugging Talia. She whispered something in his ear, and he wrapped both hands around her, squeezing tightly with love. Lydia walked him to the car where the driver that his parents sent was waiting, his arms wrapped around her shoulders almost possessively. They talked for a bit, and Cora watched intently as he wiped a tear from the girl’s eyes. They didn’t kiss though, just shared an intimate embrace that lasted way too long for Cora’s liking and when he finally drove off, she could smell sadness drifting off of Lydia from a mile away. She glanced to where Cora was sitting on the porch and just rushed pass her without a word. So much for still loving her, right?

Cora finally managed to build up enough courage to talk to Lydia before she left. What Laura said hadn’t left her mind since the night of the party, and there was no way she could let Lydia leave for Boston without knowing for sure. They went up to her room, and she could smell the melancholy feelings drifting off of the Banshee once they entered.

“What’d you bring me up here for?” She asked, trying her hardest not look around at everything in Cora’s room that she had long since erased from her mind.

Cora cut right to the point. “Do you remember what we had?”

“Cora, I’m not doing this. I’m not revisiting all those feelings and memories _two_ days before I move across the country.” She could see how irritated Lydia was, and quickly her hope that maybe Laura was right was fading.

“Maybe revisiting those memories will be a good thing?” She tried.

“They’re _memories_ for a reason, Cora. It’s in the past.” Lydia says then rushing out of the room before Cora could even get out another word. She groaned, and threw the object nearest to her, sighing when she heard it hit the wall with a loud crack.

The day Lydia was due to leave, Cora couldn’t stand to be anywhere the house, not trusting herself enough to not do anything stupid. Lydia tried to be as tough as Jackson was, and it was actually working until she hugged Allison for the third time and they both broke down into tears. The two had been best friends from since they could remember, and they both hated the idea of being without the other. It was tough, watching her get in the car and drive off, but after the gate closed, that was it. Two down, one to go, and Stiles’ whole body filled with anxiety whenever he thought about it.

~

Derek poked his head outside and saw Talia and Peter kneeling on the ground, picking weeds out of their garden. He smiled at the image and quickly did what she would do had the roles been switched: snapped a picture. The rest of the Pack - with the exception of Laura who was on a date with Parrish and Cora who locked herself in her room - were also outside; Boyd, Scott, and Isaac were play-fighting, rolling around in the grass like baby wolves as Erica, Allison, and Stiles looked on and talked under the sun.

“Mom?” She looked up at her son, wiping some dirt off of her face as she smiled.

“Yes, Der-Bear?” He smiled at the old nickname, not caring that the other wolves were laughing. “Can I talk to you?” She looked taken aback by a bit before taking off her gloves and quickly making her way towards him. “Let’s go to the front.” They walked through the house with Derek’s arm around her shoulders, her arms wrapped around his waist, towards the front porch for some privacy. Talia poured them both glasses of iced tea and sat down next to her son who obviously had something heavy on his mind.

“Talk to me, baby.” Derek sighed and took a sip of the tea to try and ease his nerves.

“I .. I want to go to New York with Stiles.” He stammered out, eyes flittering down in shame at the confession.

Talia burst into a large grin, giggling as she leaned forward to kiss her son on both of his rosy cheeks. “I know you do, sweetie. I _want_ you to go with him. We all do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, at the beginning of the flashback, Lydia is performing a locator spell to try locate Cora. And yes she is a Banshee AND a witch in this story. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, because next chapter is the last one! Xx.


	8. Chapter Eight (Epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of this story and it is quite short, but I still hope everyone enjoys it!

Six months was a very long time, at least it was to Stiles. It had been six months and a week since he moved to New York and things were very ... different. He had to get used to all the things he thought he’d adore as soon as he arrived; the constant drum from outside at all hours of the night, the bright lights outside his window had him unable to sleep for almost a week until he went on a crazed mission, determined to find curtains that were thick enough to block all of Times Square. His neighbors were rowdy, always moving around and throwing parties - even on fucking Tuesdays! He’d never get used to hardly driving his Jeep. His classes were in walking distance and anywhere he needed to go was only about two train stops away. So, Roscoe was kept asleep in the crowded parking garage, but Stiles makes sure to always pay the ancient vehicle a visit. He wasn’t really homesick, but god he missed his pack.

His first month here, he called everyone almost everyday, finding comfort when he found out that Lydia and Jackson called just as much he did. They hadn’t had a serious battle against anything in about three years, but Stiles couldn’t help but t worry that right after they left, more temperamental supernaturals would swarm the town. Talia never got tired with him though, always answering the phone and letting him ramble on and on about his day or his complaints. She was also a huge help in sending him easy recipes to cook so that he wouldn’t survive only on microwaved meals and Chinese takeout. Overall, he was really enjoying his life in New York. It was different, extremely different than Beacon Hills, but sometimes different was good.

He had just gotten out of class, practically skipping home since he didn’t have work today. The internship was, well, pretty slow. He expected to be reviewing cases, looking at evidence and going to crime scenes - all the things he did with his father. But he had to remember that all the things his dad let him do would get any other sheriff fired. So, Stiles was stuck to desk duties, organizing case files, and coffee runs. He still had faith though, hoping that as they began to get to know and trust him better, they’d finally let him in on some cases.

Stiles slid the front door open and threw his keys somewhere on the table - or the ground, who knows. He flies his expensive messenger bag, that Lydia very kindly gifted him, onto the couch and heads straight to the bathroom for a shower. New York was fun and all, but, gosh it really stink, and he could never do his homework or cook dinner with the stench of Manhattan on him.

It was a Thursday, and he usually celebrated having no class or work scheduled for the next day with Thai takeout, to spice things up, but right now he was really itching for some spaghetti - Talia’s spaghetti to be specific. He hooked his phone up to the loud speaker and got started on the quick but delicious meal, singing along off beat and out of tune.

When everything was finished he set it up at the small two person table, scrolling on his phone in patience, but his patience only extended for so long, so after forty-five minutes he began eating. Of course, with his luck, right as he swallowed his first bite, the door came sliding open.

“Sorry, sorry!” Stiles watched, his cheeks adorably big because of the food he had stuffed in his mouth. Derek scrambled to take off his bag and jacket before hurrying to sit at the table and picking up his fork.

“Your late,” Stiles states the obvious, smiling when Derek moans at the taste of the spaghetti.

“Sorry .. David needed extra help with his homework.” Derek’s frowning, and Stiles just smiles, loving how dedicated the man is to his job and his students.

He had easily gotten a job as history teacher at a charter school not too far away. Derek was incredibly nervous during his interview, already sure that he wouldn’t get the job due to his not-so-impressive resume. Then, towards the middle of the interview, the headmaster, Mrs. Lauren Martinez, flashed her eyes red and Derek just burst out laughing in response. Of course, he couldn’t get away from wolves no matter where he went. She was an Alpha, having gained the status after the death of her father and relocating to Manhattan to start her own pack. They bonded over battles and struggles of a wolf in New York - their noses that were hyper sensitive to that fucking smell of the city. Derek got the job without even a second interview, and he immediately began to feel comfortable when he realized that this was a charter school for all types of supernatural children.

Mrs. Martinez couldn’t market the school as one for supernaturals, for obvious reasons. So, during interviews, she’d sniff out if the person was some type of Fae, then hired them if they were trustworthy. Derek absolutely loved his job, knowing how important this school was since so many supernatural children were deprived of an education due to not being able to control their abilities.

“How’d he do on the quiz on Monday?” Stiles asks. The both of them are very fond of David, a little Were, who Derek won’t admit is one of his favorite students.

“He got a B! Those tutoring sessions are really helping him.” Stiles hums, reaching over to rub his boyfriend’s hand. David was an Alpha who presented very, very early, so his emotions, specifically his anger, was extremely hard to handle at first. He would lash out and even attacked one of his classmates before after becoming frustrated. Derek took notice of this and reached out to Talia and Mrs. Martinez who both helped to calm the little boy down.

“I actually want to talk to you about something.” Derek says, putting his fork down. Stiles cocks his head to side, “Something serious?” He asks, never being too fond of those serious and adult conversations.

“They asked me to coach the junior basketball team.” Stiles sags in relief, thinking that Derek was coming with bad news.

“And you said yes, right?” He asks, not seeing why the man would ever say no. He played basketball as a teen, and forces Stiles to watch it whenever it’s playing - which is all the time. “Well, I’ll be home later and busier so I wanted to talk to you first .. to make sure you were okay with it.”

Stiles snorts, “Of course, I’m okay with it Derek! I’ll just have to get used to cooking dinner later and going to basketball games! You’re gonna be a great coach, babe.” Stiles rubs the man’s hand and pats himself on the back for actually being able to pull off the nickname, “babe”.

Derek sighs in relief, “Thank you. After we wash up, I’ll let Lauren know that I’ll take the position.”

“You made me seem like some grumpy husband.” Stiles says with a laugh.

“Do you want to be?” He asks, pushing his plate away. The younger man chuckles, “What? A grump?” Derek can tell that he hasn’t caught on yet and smiles fondly.

“No. My husband.” Stiles freezes when he finally realizes what exactly Derek is asking, well, proposing.

“Derek,” Stiles breath hitches in his throat as he continues to stare down the man across from him. “Are you serious?”

“Extremely.” He responds, trying hard not to smile.

“I-“ Before Stiles can finish talking, Derek pops out of his seat. He hurries towards their bedroom and Stiles listens as the man rampages through their bedroom. He comes running back into the dining room, breathless as he kneels down on one knee with a ring box in his hand.

“I forgot the ring,” he pops it open. Two simple and silver bands that gleam underneath the light. The rings had intricate designs going completely around it, and it wasn’t flashy or superfluous, but it was sophisticated and so fucking beautiful.

“We’re already Mates and will continue to be for the rest of our lives, but that’s still not enough. I need everyone, human and Fae, to know that we’re deeply in love. I know we’re both young, but I’ve wasted enough of your time. Marry me, Stiles.”

He thinks back on their time together. Six months of domestic bliss. Cooking dinner together, buying furniture, getting joint bank accounts like thirty year olds, officially becoming Mates, making their bed together in the morning and Derek scolding Stiles for eating in the bed. Everything was perfect in the way that Stiles always wanted it, but marriage? When they first arrived to the apartment, Stiles almost threw up because of his nerves. Derek had made up his mind last minute and before he knew it, they were sitting close together on a plane looking down in awe at the city that never sleeps.

~

_“I .. I want to go to New York with Stiles.” He stammered out, eyes flittering down in shame at the confession._

_Talia burst into a large grin, giggling as she leaned forward to kiss her son on both of his rosy cheeks. “I know you do, sweetie. I want you to go with him. We all do.”_

_Derek was confused, and honestly a little hurt. Did his family want him to be gone? He’d been wanting to talk about this for so long, but was terrified of how his family would react. He knew Stiles wanted him to come with him and the feeling was mutual, but how could he just leave his family out to dry._

_“What?” He asks, frowning as his mother continues to smile and coo at him._

_“Der, love is something that’s very, very important and it’s risky, but I believe in chasing it. I see the way you look at that boy, how any and all anger or sadness or negativity drifts off of your face the moment you two catch each other’s eye. I know that look, Derek. It’s the look I would give your father.” She holds onto his hands and gently rests it on her chest. “I want you to go with him. I’m not saying I won’t miss you terribly, but you can’t let the past hold you down from the present. Being without us will hurt, but being with him will help to ease that pain.”_

_Derek sighs, “What if something happens? Jackson’s gone, and so is Lydia who are two powerhouses of the Pack. What if someone attacks you guys and all four of us are gone. How do I live with myself if something happens?”_

_“That isn’t your problem to stress on, Der. I’m the Alpha and I’m quite prepared for any supposed attacks.” Derek looks at her curiously waiting for answers, “When Peter and I go out of town? It’s for recruiting. We go around to finding other Fae that we trust and having them move to town. They aren’t exactly pack, but their an extra boost of help and protection.” His mind races, annoyed that he never caught on to how more Fae moved to town every two weeks after his mom and Peter come back from “vacation”._

_“And you two trust them?” It’s one of his main concerns._

_“With our lives.” She answers, smiling as Derek listens to her heart. Once Talia and Peter both agree to trust someone, then he knows not to questions their judgement._

_“I ... that comforts me, but I’m still conflicted, mom.” He whispers._

_She rubs his hands in hers, massaging his joints to help relax him. “Forgive me if I speak out of place but, you plan on officially making him your mate right?” Derek ducks his head in embarrassment as he nods, “I’ve known many parents who do anything in their power to stop their child from being away from the Pack for their Mate. One Alpha, who I’m sad to say was once a friend, even killed her daughter’s Mate so that they wouldn’t leave. I’ll never be that parent. If you let Stiles leave this town and settle in a new one by himself you’ll have to experience him forgetting you. Trust me, it’s one of the worst feelings in the world to fall in love and have to forcefully fall out of love.” Derek wipes the tear from her eye before it falls and chuckles when she kisses his cheeks again._

_“I would be the worst mother in the world if I ever made you feel like you owe me anything. I never want to be the cause of your sadness and despair. I have your sisters and Peter and the entire rest of the Pack here. Go be with the love of your life.” Derek nodded, trying his hardest to hold back the upcoming tears. He wasn’t one to really get emotional, but hearing his mom give him permission to leave takes the hugest weight and amount of anxiety off of his chest_

_“Go talk to your boy. I know he’ll be very happy to hear what you have to say.” She whispers._

_—_

_They were laying in bed, all sweaty and breathless and tired. Stiles was resting across Derek’s chest, arms up and fingers combing through his dark and damp hair. Derek is running his hands up and down Stiles’s back, groaning every time the boy moves against his thigh._

_“Round two already?” Stiles murmurs, tracing Derek’s lips with the tips of his fingers._

_“Not yet. Don’t want you waking up the house again.” Stiles smacks the man’s chest, still embarrassed about that one time Talia came knocking on Derek’s door for them to quiet down. The window is opened and Derek loves having the man of his dreams in his arms as they listen to the noise of a quiet Beacon Hills night._

_“You ever thought about having a roommate?” Derek asks, Stiles shrugs and settles his face deeper into his chest. “I don’t know .. I’m not too fond of having some stranger in my house. Plus, I don’t really need one since rent is so cheap.”_

_“What about,” Derek takes a deep breath before sitting up, ignoring Stiles’ groan of discomfort. He groggily sits up too, staring back at the man with a frown. “Hey,” he whines, making childish - yet very, very cute - grabby hands for the wolf._

_“What about if I was your roommate.” That’s all it took to get all of Stiles’s attention. His head shot up, staring at Derek with his eyes amazingly wide._

_“Derek what are you asking?” He inches closer, a faint smile on his face._

_“I want to move with you to New York, Stiles. I .. I can’t be away from you. Never.” He locks their fingers together, nodding his head as the boy shakes his. “But, but, what about the Pack??”_

_“I talked to mom, and she said she wants me to go. She, of all people, understands how hard it is to lose someone you love with your whole being. I can’t lose you. Not to New York and not to my paranoia and nerves.” Stiles begins to laugh and nods his head erratically as he lunges forward to kiss the man in front of him. They kiss as if they’ve never kissed before, mouths everywhere as they land back down onto the bed._

_“I love you too, Derek. Gosh, you don’t know how long I’ve waited for you to say this. Of course, I want you to come to Nee York with me. I love you so much.” He whispers in between kisses._

~

Stiles stares back at Derek in surprise, still in complete shock at what’s going on. Derek is fucking proposing to him. Right now, in their kitchen, down on one fucking knee. What the fuck?

“Oh gosh, Derek, I don’t know what to say.” He whispers, hand on his chest as he watches the rings.

“When would we do this?” He asks, finding comfort in the dark green eyes staring back at him.

“This summer. Back home surrounded by everyone we love.” Derek immediately responds, surprising Stiles with the fact that he must have already planned this.

“I ... ok? Ok!” He gasps, “Oh my gosh, yes!! Let’s get fucking married!” Stiles screams as Derek slides the ring onto his finger, throwing himself into the man’s open arms. They land on the ground with a thud, paying it no mind as they begin kissing wildly.

“Are you sure?” Derek breathes out, cupping Stiles’ cheek with his hand.

“More sure than ever in my life. I want to be your husband, Derek.” They roll around on the floor, hurriedly tearing at the others clothes. Stiles is halfway down Derek’s legs when they both hear the front door forcefully sliding open. Derek springs into action, fur and claws already out and ready to face a threat. He hears the wolf make a confused noise and Stiles sighs.

“Do I need to get the bat?” He asks, extremely irritated that something is ruining the amazing sex he was about to have with his _fiancé_.

“Uh .. no, not exactly.” Derek’s voice is clear, letting Stiles know that his teeth aren’t out and ready to rip at someone’s neck. Stiles shoots off of the ground too, very curious to see who it is that has calmed the wolf down.

“Oh my gosh!” He yells, hands flying to cover his hard nipples. The girl laughs and closes the door before flying herself down onto their couch.

“Hiya boys,” she turns the tv on and looks back at them with a glance, “sorry for interrupting your sexy times.”

“Cora what the hell are you doing here?” Derek asks, looking around in wonder as if that’ll give him answer.

“I’ll be staying for a couple days, so please put off on the wild, kinky Alpha & cute bottom Omega sex until I’m gone. Also, I’ll need you two to drive me to Boston this weekend. Oh! Is that spaghetti?” She springs up from the couch and immediately starts dishing herself out some pasta. Stiles and Derek look at each other in equal shock and confusion, not quite sure how to answer to the girl who’s already settling back onto their couch as if it’s her house.

“What is going on??” Stiles nearly yells, wanting answers immediately.

“I’m gonna go get my girl back.” She says bluntly, throwing them both a wink over her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the end! Derek and Stiles got their happy ending and Isaac got a peace of mind and closure. Everyone’s happy with their lives at the moment except one person: Cora. So, I guess this would be the perfect moment to announce that I’m planning on making another part to this story focused on Lydia and Cora’s relationship! So that will be up soon. 
> 
> I hope everyone loved and enjoyed reading this story as much as I loved and enjoyed writing it. If you were rooting for a Derek/Isaac ending then I’m sorry, but I just love Sterek!
> 
> Thank you all SO much for the kudos and the comments and for reading my little story! Xx.


End file.
